dreamy
Americanadjective
-
vague or impractical
-
resembling a dream in quality
-
relaxing; gentle
dreamy music
-
informal wonderful
-
having dreams, esp daydreams
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of dreamy
Explanation
Things that are dreamy seem slightly strange and unreal, but in a lovely way. A dreamy tune on the radio might make you close your eyes and smile. Your favorite tea shop might have a dreamy atmosphere, and your favorite movie might be slow and dreamy, with dreamlike images and meditative music. If a person is dreamy, she tends to live in her head, thinking or daydreaming. Informally, you can also describe something or someone that's wonderful or nice to look at as dreamy: "He's my favorite singer, and he's so dreamy." This casual meaning began as US teen slang in the 1940s.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
LaRotta lauds “The Dreamy Side” for “establishing a lost historical connection in Chicano culture,” and Molina wanted his new book to “fill the void,” insisting, “what they began in the ’50s, it stayed.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
Dreamy photographs of baskets and exposed-wood beams and straw hats hanging on peg hooks quiet thoughts such as “Will my job be replaced by AI?”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
Dreamy and enthralling, director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli do it again.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2024
Dreamy, singalong hooks abound, as on this exuberant single.
From New York Times • Oct. 27, 2023
Dobbin by the dyke doth drowse, Dreamy kine forget to browse, Winking stars are in the sky; “Hush-a-bye! hush-a-bye!”
From Rhymes Old and New : collected by M.E.S. Wright by Wright, M. E. S.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
