American Dream

Or A·mer·i·can dream

[uh-mer-i-kuhn dreem]

noun

1. a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the United States.

   I want to find a decent job, buy a house, have a family, and live the American dream.

2. the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.

   The American Dream even allows us to criticize America, as part of our freedom of speech.

American Dream

noun

1. the notion that the American social, economic, and political system makes success possible for every individual

American Dream

1. A phrase connoting hope for prosperity and happiness, symbolized particularly by having a house of one's own. Possibly applied at first to the hopes of immigrants, the phrase now applies to all except the very rich and suggests a confident hope that one's children's economic and social condition will be better than one's own.

Word History and Origins

Origin of American Dream¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

For instance, the first section of the exhibition frames this movement as one that “looked underneath the slick surfaces of consumer culture and Pop Art to expose the strange, alienating effect of the American Dream.”

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It reopened its first flagship store in 2021 at the American Dream mall in New Jersey.

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“It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

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Appeared in the September 29, 2025, print edition as 'American Dream Dims for Some'.

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During the opening credits of the movie, you say the line “The American Dream is dead.”

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When To Use

What is the American Dream?

The American Dream is the aspirational belief in the U.S. that all individuals are entitled to the opportunity for success and upward social mobility through hard work.