Master confusing words with ease
Ivory tower vs. Ivy tower
Ivory tower
/ˌaɪvəri ˈtaʊər/Examples:
She prefers her ivory tower lifestyle, away from reality.Academics often get accused of living in their ivory towers.The CEO operates from an ivory tower, disconnected from the team.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ivy tower
/ˈaɪ.vi ˌtaʊ.ər/Examples:
She spent her days in the ivy tower of academia.His views were criticized as ivy tower elitism.They called him an ivy tower intellectual, detached from reality.
Synonyms:
This word has no synonymsAntonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Ivory tower refers to a figurative place where people are sheltered from the real world and live in intellectual or academic isolation.
- Ivy tower could be mistakenly used as a play on the word ivy which is a plant climbing on university buildings, merging the idea of academic settings.
- Remember that both phrases convey a connection to academia, but ivory suggests being disconnected from reality while ivy is more visually joined to the image of traditional university campuses.
© 2025 Lithium Lab Pte Ltd