象牙塔

xiàngyátǎ

noun #27,376

Measure Word

一座象牙塔 zuò

Meanings

1 ivory tower
2 world of academia detached from reality

Characters

tooth; tusk; ivory

Examples

HSK 4

批评者认为这位教授活在象牙塔里。

Pīpíng zhě rènwéi zhèwèi jiàoshòu huó zài xiàngyátǎ lǐ.

Critics think this professor lives in an ivory tower.

HSK 6

他走出象牙塔，才发现社会与书本差别很大。

Tā zǒuchū xiàngyátǎ, cái fāxiàn shèhuì yǔ shūběn chābié hěn dà.

Only after stepping out of the ivory tower did he realize how different society is from what's in books.

Tips

history

The phrase is a translation of the French 'tour d'ivoire', coined by French critic Sainte-Beuve in 1837 to describe the poet Alfred de Vigny's retreat from public life into his art.

Stroke Order

象 xiàng

牙 yá

塔 tǎ