Definition of "wishful thinking" [wishful thinking]

• Identification of one's wishes or desires with reality. (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.

• "Further evidence of the German Foreign Office's wishful thinking and lack of realism came in another telegram an hour or so later:"
• "But it was also the product of a profoundly dysfunctional policy processa process that was dominated by the wishful thinking of strong-willed officials that failed to evaluate information systematically or assess alternative courses of action carefully, and that allowed control over policy formulation and execution to slip beyond the purview of the National Security Council."
• "LaGuerta did a masterful job of presenting just enough fact colored with high-gloss wishful thinking that nearly anyone would have been convinced."