dream

noun, often attributive \ ˈdrēm \

Definition of dream

1 :a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep

had a dream about climbing a mountain

gives me bad dreams

— compare rem sleep

2 :an experience of waking life having the characteristics of a dream: such as

a :a visionary (see ¹visionary 2a) creation of the imagination :daydream

the dreams of her youth

b :a state of mind marked by abstraction or release from reality :reverie

walking around in a dream

c :an object seen in a dreamlike state :vision

a man that was her dream come true

3 :something notable for its beauty, excellence, or enjoyable quality

the new car is a dream to operate

4 a :a strongly desired goal or purpose

a dream of becoming president

b :something that fully satisfies a wish :ideal

a meal that was a gourmet's dream

—

dreamful

play \-fəl\ adjective

—

dreamfully

play \-fə-lē\ adverb

—

dreamfulness

noun

—

dreamless

adjective

—

dreamlessly

adverb

—

dreamlessness

noun

—

dreamlike

play \ˈdrēm-ˌlīk\ adjective

See dream defined for English-language learners

See dream defined for kids

Examples of dream in a Sentence

He had a dream about climbing a mountain.
You were in my dream last night.
I've found the man of my dreams.
They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be so much fun.
If you think the work will be easy, you're living in a dream world.
He has had a lifelong dream of becoming an actor.
It's a dream of mine to own a house in the country.
Tell me your hopes and dreams.
Making it to the Olympics was a dream come true.

Recent Examples of dream from the Web

Despite Yoshikawa's slow progress, Aguiar is optimistic about the feasibility of his reindeer dreams.

— kelsey lindsey, Alaska Dispatch News, "Scientist looks to be ‘Japanese Santa,’ mushing reindeer across tundra," 28 Aug. 2017
One is a PTSD-type loop where our brain replays the trauma again and again, manifesting itself in dreams or panic attacks during the day.

— simon worrall, National Geographic, "Earthquakes Can Happen in More Places Than You Think," 26 Aug. 2017
The Cincinnati Reds are making dreams come true for a young boy dying of cancer.

— jennifer baker, Cincinnati.com, "Boy dying of cancer to be honorary Cincinnati Reds captain," 25 Aug. 2017
A shoe lover’s dream, the largest wall is dedicated to a gallery of heels and boots in everything from pink sequins and feathers to a rainbow of sky-high heels organized by color.

— tara bradley connell, Orlando Signature, "Best-Dressed A-Listers in Orlando," 24 Aug. 2017
Seventeen and TLC are teaming up to make prom dreams come true for you and your classmates!

— seventeen magazine, Seventeen, "You Could Win a ~Dream Prom~ For Your School!," 23 Aug. 2017
Target is selling Casper’s dream, live in bricks and mortar, to 30 million visitors a week.

— erin griffith, Fortune, "How Casper Flipped the Mattress Industry," 23 Aug. 2017
To avoid being priced out of the American dream, working families took on massive amounts of mortgage and credit-card debt.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "The Trump Economy Is a Gilded Mediocrity," 20 Aug. 2017
Some kids dream of being princesses, but Tiera Guinn wanted to build rockets.

— alexis reliford, Good Housekeeping, "Meet 2017 Awesome Women Awards Honoree, Tiera Guinn," 14 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dream.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Not until the 13th century was our word dream used in the sense of “a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep.” The word itself is considerably older. In Old English dream means “joy,” “noise,” or “music.” Yet the change in meaning did not come from the development of a more specialized sense. Rather it appears that after many Scandinavian conflicts, conquests, and settlements in Britain the Old Norse draumr, meaning “a dream during sleep,” influenced the meaning of the etymologically related, English word. By the end of the 14th century the earlier meanings had been entirely replaced.

Origin and Etymology of dream

Middle English dreem, from Old English drēam noise, joy, and Old Norse draumr dream; akin to Old High German troum dream

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

dream Synonyms

Synonyms

chimera, conceit, daydream, delusion, fantasy, fancy, figment, hallucination, illusion, nonentity, phantasm (also fantasm), pipe dream, unreality, vision

Related Words

ignis fatuus, mirage, will-o'-the-wisp; brainchild, idea; concoction, fable, fabrication, fiction, invention; envisaging, imaging, visualization; cloud-cuckoo-land, cloudland, Shangri-la, utopia; daymare, nightmare

Near Antonyms

actuality, fact, reality

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

dream

verb

Definition of dream

dreamed play \ˈdrem(p)t, ˈdrēmd\ or dreamt play \ˈdrem(p)t\; dreaming play \ˈdrē-miŋ\

intransitive verb

1 :to have a series of thoughts, images, or emotions while sleeping :to have a dream (see ¹dream 1)

doesn't recall dreaming last night

dream of departed loved ones

2 :to indulge in daydreams or fantasies

dreaming of a better future

3 :to appear tranquil or dreamy (see dreamy 3a)

houses dream in leafy shadows
—Gladys Taber

transitive verb

1 :to have a dream of

dreamt that he was running in the woods

2 :to consider as a possibility :imagine

never dreamed I would become a teacher

3 :to pass (time) in reverie or inaction

dreaming the hours away

— dream of

:to consider possible or fitting

wouldn't dream of disturbing you

See dream defined for English-language learners

Examples of dream in a Sentence

Did it really happen or did I just dream it?
He tends to dream big but he never really does the things he dreams of doing.

Recent Examples of dream from the Web

Under a banner that encouraged its members to Dream It,

— annie gentile, Courant Community, "Hartford County 4-H Fair: An 81-Year Tradition," 30 Aug. 2017
At the doughnut shop across from the Americana, the mall workers rest and dream big.

— latimes.com, "Today: Harvey Strikes at the Heart of Texas," 28 Aug. 2017
Historically, most researchers could only dream of having such a large impact so quickly.

— sebastian anthony, Ars Technica, "Facebook’s evolutionary search for crashing software bugs," 22 Aug. 2017
Today is for dreaming about lush, green lawns and bedroom ceilings tall enough to accommodate a canopy bed.

— leila atassi, cleveland.com, "'Something that's mine,' the Korper family's dream home: A Greater Cleveland," 17 Aug. 2017
Daily Pilot MouseMingle helps Disney fans find their happily-ever-after Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Kelsey Atwood-Knudson who dreamed of falling in love, fairy-tale style.

— timesoc, Daily Pilot, "TimesOC: Accusations of budget manipulation surface among O.C. water agencies," 9 Aug. 2017
My entire career at the New Republic had been spent dreaming of such a benefactor.

— franklin foer, The Atlantic, "When Silicon Valley Took Over Journalism," 8 Aug. 2017
Joblessness is not foreordained, because entrepreneurs can always dream up new ways of making labor productive.

— edward l. glaeser, National Review, "The War on Work — and How to End It," 1 Aug. 2017
The president’s long-term ambitions to curtail immigration, meanwhile, have mostly flown under the radar: a plan dreamt up by the White House’s resident nationalists Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller to crack down on legal immigration.

— bess levin, The Hive, "Trump’s Real Immigration Endgame Comes Into View," 13 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of dream

see ¹dream

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

dream Synonyms

Synonyms

conceit [chiefly dialect], conceive, conjure (up), imagine, envisage, envision, fancy, fantasize, fantasy, feature, ideate, image, picture, see, vision, visualize

Related Words

daydream, stargaze; hallucinate; re-create, reflect, relive, reminisce; contemplate, meditate, muse, ponder, ruminate; concoct, fabricate, invent, make up, manufacture, plan, project; foresee, prefigure

DREAM Defined for English Language Learners

dream

noun

Definition of dream for English Language Learners

: a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep
: an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real
: something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time

dream

verb

Definition of dream for English Language Learners

: to have visions and thoughts in your sleep : to have a dream while you are sleeping
: to think about something that you wish would happen or something that you want to do or be

DREAM Defined for Kids

dream

noun \ ˈdrēm \

Definition of dream for Students

1 :a series of thoughts or visions that occur during sleep

2 :¹daydream

3 :something very pleasing Our vacation was a dream.

4 :a goal that is wished for It's her dream to travel.

dream

verb

Definition of dream for Students

dreamed \ˈdremt, ˈdrēmd\ or dreamt \ˈdremt\; dreaming \ˈdrē-miŋ\

1 :to have a series of thoughts or visions while sleeping

2 :to spend time having daydreams

3 :to think of as happening or possible

I dream of a better world.

—

dreamer

\ˈdrē-mər\ noun

— dream up

:to think of or invent

Did you dream up this plan?

Medical Dictionary

dream

noun, often attributive \ ˈdrēm \

medical Definition of dream

:a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep and especially during REM sleep — compare daydream

dream

verb \ ˈdrēm \

medical Definition of dream

dreamed play \ˈdrem(p)t, ˈdrēmd\ or dreamt play \ˈdrem(p)t\; dreaming play \ˈdrē-miŋ\

intransitive verb

1 :to have a dream

2 :to indulge in daydreams or fantasies

transitive verb

:to have a dream of

—

dreamer

play \ˈdrē-mər\ noun

Learn More about dream

See words that rhyme with dream Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dream Spanish Central: Translation of dream Nglish: Translation of dream for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dream for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dream

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dream

Definition of dream

dreamful

dreamfully

dreamfulness

dreamless

dreamlessly

dreamlessness

dreamlike

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Examples of dream in a Sentence

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Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of dream

dream Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Other Psychology Terms

dream

Definition of dream

Examples of dream in a Sentence

Recent Examples of dream from the Web

Origin and Etymology of dream

dream Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

DREAM Defined for English Language Learners

dream

Definition of dream for English Language Learners

dream

Definition of dream for English Language Learners

DREAM Defined for Kids

dream

Definition of dream for Students

dream

Definition of dream for Students

dreamer

Medical Dictionary

dream

medical Definition of dream

dream

medical Definition of dream

dreamer

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