reverie
Americannoun
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a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing.
lost in reverie.
- Synonyms:
- brown study, abstraction
-
a daydream.
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a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea.
reveries that will never come to fruition.
-
Music. an instrumental composition of a vague and dreamy character.
noun
-
an act or state of absent-minded daydreaming
to fall into a reverie
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a piece of instrumental music suggestive of a daydream
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archaic a fanciful or visionary notion; daydream
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”; see origin at rave 1, -ery
Explanation
If you're relaxing on the beach, dreaming of how you will never have to get up and go back to work, you're engaged in a reverie, or pleasant daydream. There's nothing wrong with reverie, but if you follow its path into English, you'll see how closely it is connected to madness. The noun is from French rêverie, from a Middle French word meaning "wild speech, delirium," from rever "to roam, speak wildly." Middle French rever is also the source of English rave, as in raving mad.
Vocabulary lists containing reverie
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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.
Gough said he has to buy coffee at the price available to him in the moment, and Reverie isn’t big enough to hire a dedicated buyer who can scour for deals.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
Suffolk County Council developed the Reverie project to stimulate those suffering with the illness.
From BBC • Dec. 14, 2023
Thais Perkins is the owner of Reverie Books in Austin, Texas, and the parent of a middle school student and high school student.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 13, 2021
Reverie The extreme-virtual-reality drama concludes its season with the team on the trail of one of their own, who’s been kidnapped.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2018
Thus, then, as Beauty is impersonated in Hellas, Mystery in Egypt, so this attribute which we may name Reverie is impersonated in the Teutonic race.
From The Origins and Destiny of Imperial Britain Nineteenth Century Europe by Cramb, J. A. (John Adam)
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.
