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
Pulling us into a trance-like state.
—
Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2026
Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana.
—Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026
At the packed opening, a huge screen showed Abramović’s video work, Tito’s Funeral (2025), broadcasting women beating their chests in a near trance-like state, drawing on ritualised forms of communal mourning.
—George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
Sound, light, and vibration/ Reshape our perceptions/ Pulling us into a trance-like state.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trance
Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2026
Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana.
—Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026
At the packed opening, a huge screen showed Abramović’s video work, Tito’s Funeral (2025), broadcasting women beating their chests in a near trance-like state, drawing on ritualised forms of communal mourning.
—George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
Sound, light, and vibration/ Reshape our perceptions/ Pulling us into a trance-like state.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trance
Noun
-
No amount of daydreaming would have been able to replace the knowledge that Lenny could have shared.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 May 2026
-
But across the rest of the record, whether retelling or daydreaming, Hawke maintains a writerly attention to assonance and rhyme.—
Caitlin Wolper Phillips,
Pitchfork,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Straight out of an interstellar sci-fi reverie, the six-suite Echo camp fuses fictional space commander-style architecture with astro-chic interiors for up to 12 guests.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 May 2026
-
Even with its unnecessary detours, Singing reaches this wild reverie in the end—a voice reclaimed to report, softly, from the fathomless depths of the human experience.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trance. Accessed 25 May. 2026.
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