magic asterisk

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

An unspecified or unrealistic solution to a financial problem

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Giải pháp không cụ thể hoặc không thực tế cho vấn đề tài chính

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a symbol used to indicate a mysterious or unexplained factor
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The budget relies on a magic asterisk to balance the numbers

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “magic asterisk” mean?

An unspecified or unrealistic solution to a financial problem Literally: a symbol used to indicate a mysterious or unexplained factor

Is “magic asterisk” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.