reverie

American  

[rev-uh-ree] / ˈrɛv ə ri /

Sometimes revery

noun

1. a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing.

   lost in reverie.

   Synonyms:

   brown study, abstraction

2. a daydream.

3. a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea.

   reveries that will never come to fruition.

4. Music. an instrumental composition of a vague and dreamy character.

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reverie British  

/ ˈrɛvərɪ /

noun

1. an act or state of absent-minded daydreaming

   to fall into a reverie

2. a piece of instrumental music suggestive of a daydream

3. archaic a fanciful or visionary notion; daydream

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Etymology

Origin of reverie

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French reverie, resverie, derivative of rever, resver, raver “to speak wildly, wander, dream”; rave ¹, -ery

Example Sentences

Jones turned from her reverie and looked at Behar as if the latter were a bag of dog poop burning on her doorstep.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

This moves the contact into the seldom used “X file,” where I can, in my moments of reverie, review and remind myself of those once treasured relationships.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Now, shaken from a reverie, reality collides with illusion at the languid pace of a stream.

From Salon • Jun. 7, 2025

He is likely to find this reverie equally fantastical.

From Slate • May 8, 2025

When at last she left you, you lapsed at once into deep reverie: you betook yourself slowly to pace the gallery.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Related Words

• contemplation
• fantasy
• meditation
• trance