as in trance
the state of being lost in thought
if you're bored while traveling, daydreaming is a perfectly normal state to be in, regardless of what the road signs say
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as in dreaming
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Recent Examples of daydreaming
Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
The colorful flowers are perfect for a photo-op or casual daydreaming.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Those daydreaming of taking in the sweeping sunrise vistas across Middle Harbour just got lucky because one of the most significant abodes on the street just surfaced on market for the first time in over four decades.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 27 Aug. 2025
This is a train ride for daydreaming, drawing, reading, playing cards, or any other low-tech pursuit.
—Alesandra Dubin, AFAR Media, 25 Aug. 2025
Maladaptive daydreaming is a form of intense daydreaming characterized by the creation of unrealistic or fantastical situations, conversations, or stories in one’s own mind that are outside the realm of a person’s day-to-day life.
—Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
Filmmaking is blind instinct, petty calculations, smooth generalship, daydreaming, pig-headedness, grace, bluff, risk.
—Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
The colorful flowers are perfect for a photo-op or casual daydreaming.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Those daydreaming of taking in the sweeping sunrise vistas across Middle Harbour just got lucky because one of the most significant abodes on the street just surfaced on market for the first time in over four decades.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 27 Aug. 2025
This is a train ride for daydreaming, drawing, reading, playing cards, or any other low-tech pursuit.
—Alesandra Dubin, AFAR Media, 25 Aug. 2025
Maladaptive daydreaming is a form of intense daydreaming characterized by the creation of unrealistic or fantastical situations, conversations, or stories in one’s own mind that are outside the realm of a person’s day-to-day life.
—Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for daydreaming
Noun
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Until that point, many of Max’s scenes outside of Vecna’s prison had been in a state of unconsciousness; back in Hawkins, she’s been stuck in a two-year trance.—
Nick Remsen,
Vogue,
27 Dec. 2025
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Inspired by the American Midwest, the South Londoners’ debut album is a drifting odyssey through ambient and downtempo trance that captures the feeling of meditative drives on sprawling backroads.—
Billie Bugara,
Pitchfork,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Lifelong Wyoming resident David Willms spent years of his childhood fishing a nearby reservoir flanked by Elk Mountain, dreaming about summiting it someday.—
Christine Peterson,
Outdoor Life,
7 Jan. 2026
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Swearingen attended his first PBR event at Madison Square Garden as a teenager, when his family brought bulls there, watching from the sidelines and dreaming of one day riding there.—
Nancy Kane,
New York Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Bob Weir, the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of the Grateful Dead, whose songs about sunshine daydreams and truckin’ helped turn the jam band into a 60-year musical empire, has died at age 78.—
Richard Gehr,
Rolling Stone,
10 Jan. 2026
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Season 5, after all, is framed by Mike and Eleven’s daydream of a conversation in the first episode.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
26 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The couple frequently share dreamy evenings in their backyard, like a picnic date night with takeout.—
Brendan Le,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
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Playful pastel hues and delicate details give this manicure a light, dreamy charm.—
Kat Suico,
InStyle,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The irony here is that many in Washington have been openly fantasizing about how advanced AI systems could revolutionize military strategy and reshape geopolitics—to such an extent that this speculation has fueled a kind of arms race with China.—
Damon Beres,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
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In the face of that reality—the death, functionally, of the American dream—millennials, Gen Zers and Gen Alphaers have started fantasizing about the abolition of money, of technology, of progress entirely, to the point of dreaming about regressing away from humanity itself.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
3 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Despite this, one of the more poignant bronzes her mother made at this time is of Flora, seated quietly in an armchair, the curve of her body and downcast expression manifesting her pensive mood.—
Fiona Donovan,
Vanity Fair,
30 Dec. 2025
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There’s Walter’s serene cello and Marjorie’s pensive, slightly coy violin, sometimes playful or petulant or, still, a little vain and secretive — other times thin and trembling, lost in the haze of dementia.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
9 Dec. 2025
Verb
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As a New Yorker herself, Bellizzi treasured envisioning the cramped Lower East Side milieu that opens the film.—
Lisa Wong Macabasco,
Vogue,
23 Dec. 2025
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While the commission’s is formally charged with re-envisioning Medi-Cal, CHCF policy experts said the programs future cannot be separated from rising affordability challenges across California’s broader insurance landscape.—
Cathie Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
22 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The absorbed or scattered light creates a unique pattern called the spectrum, which is effectively the substance’s fingerprint.—
Ambuj Tewari,
The Conversation,
6 Mar. 2025
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Although the mercury hovered at only 5°, all of us became so absorbed in the rabbit chase that no one noticed numb toes and cold ears.—
Erwin A. Bauer,
Outdoor Life,
25 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Daydreaming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/daydreaming. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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