never-never

1 of 2

noun

plural -s

1

or never-never land or less commonly never-never country

a(1)

Australia : sparsely settled country in the northern and western part of Queensland

(2)

: a remote or sparsely settled region : a barren or frontier area

b(1)

never-never land : an ideal or imaginary place or region

that never-never land of true romance and pure love

—Rollene W. Saal

(2)

: an exotic place

a never-never land of poodles and chauffeurs

—Kathryn Livingston

also : an absurd or indeterminate situation

was capital disappearing into an unproductive never-never land?

—Gregg Easterbrook

2

: an illusory existence

3

[reduplication of never] British : a system of installment purchase

never-never

2 of 2

adjective

: characterized by an imaginary, idealistic, or fantastic quality

the never-never rhetoric … which had to do with perfect justice and perfect harmony

—Jane Kramer

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for never-never land, probably from reduplication of never + land

Adjective

never-never land

First Known Use

Noun

1833, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1900, in the meaning defined above

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