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live in an/(one's) ivory tower
To reside or exist in a place or among a social circle that is characterized by effete academic intelligence and thus is out of touch with or aloof from the realities of life. I don't put much weight in the advice of a bunch of economists living in their ivory towers who've never worked a real job in their lives. It seemed easy to solve all the world's problems when I was living in an ivory tower. Now that I'm out of college, I realize things are so much more complex than I'd imagined.
an/(one's) ivory tower
A place or a social circle that is characterized by effete academic intelligence and thus is out of touch with or aloof from the realities of life. I don't put much weight in the advice of a bunch of economists living in their ivory towers who've never worked a real job in their lives. It seemed easy to solve all the world's problems when I was living in an ivory tower. Now that I'm out of college, I realize things are so much more complex than I'd imagined.
*in an ivory tower
Fig. in a place, such as a university, where one can be aloof from the realities of living. (Typ—ically: be ~; dwell ~; live ~; work ~.) If you didn't spend so much time in your ivory tower, you'd know what people really think! Many professors are said to live in ivory towers. They don't know what the real world is like.
tower above someone or something
to stand or be much taller than someone or something. (Often used in exaggeration.) The basketball player towered above everyone else in the room. The new building towered above all the others in town.
tower head and shoulders above someone or something
1. Lit. [for someone] to stand much taller than someone or something. (Often used in exaggeration.) Bob towers head and shoulders above both his parents. The boys towered head and shoulders above the walls of the maze. They found their way around easily.
2. Fig. to be far superior to someone or a group. The new vice president towers head and shoulders above the old one. The chairman towered head and shoulders above the rest of the committee.
tower of strength
Fig. a person who can always be depended on to provide support and encouragement, especially in times of trouble. Mary was a tower of strength when Jean was in the hospital. She looked after her whole family. Jack was a tower of strength during the time that his father was unemployed.
tower over someone or something
to stand much taller than someone or something. Tom towers over his older brother, Stan. Tom towered over the little desk he had been assigned to.
a pillar of strength
someone who is emotionally very strong Roger was a pillar of strength when my father died.
an ivory tower
if you are in an ivory tower, you are in a place or situation where you are separated from ordinary life and its problems How much of the research done by academics in their ivory towers is ever read or published?
a pillar/tower of strength
someone who gives a lot of support to someone else who is in a difficult situation Roger was a tower of strength when my parents died.
ivory tower
A place or attitude of retreat, remoteness from everyday affairs, as in What does the professor know about student life, living as he does in an ivory tower? This term is a translation of the French tour d'ivoire, which the critic Saint-Beuve used to describe the attitude of poet Alfred de Vigny in 1837. It is used most often in reference to intellectuals and artists who remain complacently aloof.
tower of strength
A dependable person on whom one can lean in time of trouble, as in After Dad died Grandma was a tower of strength for the whole family. This expression, first recorded in 1549, originally was used most often to refer to God and heaven, but Shakespeare had it differently in Richard III (5:3): "Besides, the King's name is a tower of strength."
tower above
or tower overv.1. To appear at or rise to a conspicuous height above someone or something: The oak towered above the rest of the trees. The skyscrapers tower over the horizon.
2. To demonstrate great superiority over someone or something: In terms of performance, our record towers above that of any other company in this city. Her report stated that the legacy of Alexander's empire towers over all other nations of the ancient world.
ivory tower
n. an imaginary location where aloof academics are said to reside and work. Why don’t you come out of your ivory tower and see what the world is really like?