How do you use “stardust” in a sentence? Is there a better word to describe what I am trying to convey?

Question

I am looking for an expression or a word that will describe my attitude towards a country I've never visited. In this sentence, I want to show to the reader that I've created an idolized and romanticized image of this country in my head.

MW gives this as a definition to stardust: "feeling or impression of romance, magic, or ethereality" and I quite like the meaning, it feels to be quite close to what I am trying to express. However, since it's a noun, I have a hard time using it in a sentence to convey my thought. Can someone give me a few good examples or advise another word to use?

Answer 1

COCA gives few examples of this usage, but they seem to be along the lines of:

• Bulgaria clouded my mind with stardust.
• Until then Bulgaria was all roses and stardust.
• I had a stardust feeling about Bulgaria.
• I was high on stardust.

Answer 2

Would "starry-eyed" or "stars in your eyes" work for this? It's more often used in the context of personal romance rather than with regard to a country or foreign place. Here is a link to a song that uses the phrase in the personal-romance context: Tom Russell - Walking on the Moon.

Answer 3

You will probably have more success describing familiar aspects of this place in a romanticized way- rather than using one word to capture it all.

For instance, your character might dream of Paris as an ideal place where the streets are so clean you took off your shoes before walking on them. Homeless people handout small coins and little bakery treats to visitors. The crowds in the town square move as one to the sound of the March Triumphant. And the Eiffel Tower's looms so large and welcoming over the city, it appears to be leaning forward to say, 'Good Morning!' to every waking Parisian.

That key is to tap into the common images that everyone recognizes: streets, homeless people, crowds, and the Eiffel Tower. Then describe them in a very surrealistic way.

If, on the other hand, of you are running out of space in your piece, then you might consider finding some synonyms for starry-eyed and wonderment.

Answer 4

How about something like "The country enchanted me with stardust"?

Answer 5

One option might be,

I´m fascinated with Bulgaria, this country makes me hallucinate