as in daydreaming
the state of being lost in thought
lulled by the sound of the train, she stared out the window in a trance, oblivious to the fact that the conductor was taking tickets
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Recent Examples of trance
With nothing left to do, the man from the funeral home begins wheeling the gurney away, and everyone follows, as if in a procession or a trance.
—
David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The film follows the story of Bayu, an Indonesian teenager who aspires to become a shaman for local trance parties in a small suburban community where inhabitants derive pleasure from spiritual possession.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
The Life After Life Club in an Orange County retirement community explores trance channeling, the power of animal communication and near-death experiences.
—Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025
In those documents, West discussed not only how to conduct experiments to implant false memories, instill specific mental disorders, and induce trance states, but also how to hide them.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trance
David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
The film follows the story of Bayu, an Indonesian teenager who aspires to become a shaman for local trance parties in a small suburban community where inhabitants derive pleasure from spiritual possession.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
The Life After Life Club in an Orange County retirement community explores trance channeling, the power of animal communication and near-death experiences.
—Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025
In those documents, West discussed not only how to conduct experiments to implant false memories, instill specific mental disorders, and induce trance states, but also how to hide them.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trance
Noun
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The study area covers the high seas of the whole Atlantic Ocean, from 65 degrees South latitude to 65 degrees North latitude and from 90 West longitude to 25 East longitude.—
Bruce Dorminey,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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Both are also Black art forms that require incredible discipline and a lifetime of study but which, when performed at their highest levels, encourage a freedom of expression that can take the audience into an ecstatic state.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
23 June 2025
Noun
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Idealistic reveries are interrupted as the moon and Venus clash!—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
7 June 2025
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The artists and activists, Mexican immigrants in a border town on the Rio Grande, tilt at policies targeting not only their families and neighbors but their bodies — amid sequences of chaotic abandon and stargazing reverie.—
Steve Dollar,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trance. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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