Definition of "will-o'-the-wisp" []

• See ignis fatuus. (noun)
• A delusive or misleading hope. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "That is, the media have been chasing a will-o'-the-wisp for the better part of a year, whipping car buyers and Congress into a frenzy."
• "The audience is shivering, and that's not just down to Warpaint's eldritch, will-o'-the-wisp music."
• "Dim will-o'-the-wisp glows came from the warm globes of the street lamps overhead."