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View synonyms for dream

dream

[ dreem ]

noun

  1. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
  2. the sleeping state in which this occurs.
  3. an object seen in a dream.
  4. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
  5. a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.
  6. an aspiration; goal; aim:

    A trip to Europe is his dream.

  7. a wild or vain fancy.
  8. something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence.


verb (used without object)

, dreamed or dreamt, dream·ing.
  1. to have a dream.
  2. to indulge in daydreams or reveries:

    He dreamed about vacation plans when he should have been working.

  3. to think or conceive of something in a very remote way (usually followed by of ):

    I wouldn't dream of asking them.

verb (used with object)

, dreamed or dreamt, dream·ing.
  1. to see or imagine in sleep or in a vision.
  2. to imagine as if in a dream; fancy; suppose.
  3. to pass or spend (time) in dreaming (often followed by away ):

    to dream away the afternoon.

adjective

  1. most desirable; ideal:

    a dream vacation.

verb phrase

  1. to form in the imagination; devise:

    They dreamed up the most impossible plan.

dream

/ driːm /

noun

    1. mental activity, usually in the form of an imagined series of events, occurring during certain phases of sleep
    2. ( as modifier )

      a dream sequence

    3. ( in combination ) oneiric

      dreamland

    1. a sequence of imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake; daydream; fantasy
    2. ( as modifier )

      a dream world

  1. a person or thing seen or occurring in a dream
  2. a cherished hope; ambition; aspiration
  3. a vain hope
  4. a person or thing that is as pleasant, or seemingly unreal, as a dream
  5. go like a dream
    go like a dream to move, develop, or work very well


verb

  1. may take a clause as object to undergo or experience (a dream or dreams)
  2. intr to indulge in daydreams
  3. intr to suffer delusions; be unrealistic

    you're dreaming if you think you can win

  4. whenintr, foll by of or about to have an image (of) or fantasy (about) in or as if in a dream
  5. intrfoll byof to consider the possibility (of)

    I wouldn't dream of troubling you

adjective

  1. too good to be true; ideal

    dream kitchen

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Derived Forms

  • ˈdreamˌlike, adjective
  • ˈdreamlessly, adverb
  • ˈdreamingly, adverb
  • ˈdreamfully, adverb
  • ˈdreaming, nounadjective
  • ˈdreamlessness, noun
  • ˈdreamless, adjective
  • ˈdreamful, adjective

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Other Words From

  • dreamful adjective
  • dreamful·ly adverb
  • dreamful·ness noun
  • dreaming·ly adverb
  • dreamlike adjective
  • re·dream verb redreamed or redreamt redreaming
  • un·dreamed adjective
  • un·dreaming adjective
  • un·dreamlike adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of dream1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English dreem, Old English drēam “joy, mirth, gladness,” cognate with Old Saxon drōm “mirth, dream,” Old Norse draumr, Old High German troum “dream”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of dream1

Old English drēam song; related to Old High German troum, Old Norse draumr, Greek thrulos noise

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Idioms and Phrases

  • pipe dream
  • sweet dreams
  • wouldn't dream of

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Synonym Study

Dream, nightmare, and vision refer to the kinds of mental images that form during sleep. Dream is the general term for any such succession of images. A nightmare is a dream that brings fear or anxiety: frightened by a nightmare. Vision refers to a series of images of unusual vividness, clarity, order, and significance, sometimes seen in a dream.

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Example Sentences

I was drawn to The Class for different reasons—chiefly, the pipe dream of achieving a tighter and tauter backside.

The Eighty-ninth Congress was potentially more fertile ground for the broad range of controversial programs on his dream agenda.

I fall back into a dream and then suddenly there is a tapping on the window just above my bed.

So where does this leave the millions of Palestinians—like my relatives—who dream of self-determination and a sovereign state?

And for those on the Palestinian right who still dream of driving the Jews into the sea, they too can forget it.

She would never forget it; but realizing its gravity, she decided thereupon never to tell it—the dream—to anybody.

Little did Tressan dream to what a cask of gunpowder he was applying the match of his smug pertness.

She was in a dream of oily odours and monstrous iron constructions, dominated by the grand foreman: and Edwin was in the dream.

As the devil never wanted insinuators, I shall observe, that I learned a way how to make a man dream of what I pleased.

Alice Arden, you little dream of the man and the route by which, possibly, deliverance is speeding to you.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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