daydream
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
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a pleasant dreamlike fantasy indulged in while awake; idle reverie
-
a pleasant scheme or wish that is unlikely to be fulfilled; pipe dream
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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daydreamsimple
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daydreamssimple
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have daydreamedperfect
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has daydreamedperfect
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am daydreamingprogressive
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are daydreamingprogressive
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is daydreamingprogressive
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have been daydreamingperfect progressive
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has been daydreamingperfect progressive
Past
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daydreamedsimple
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had daydreamedperfect
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was daydreamingprogressive
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were daydreamingprogressive
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had been daydreamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of daydream
Explanation
A daydream is a fantasy you have while you're awake. Daydreams are pleasant, and they can be so absorbing that they distract you from what's going on around you. You might have a daydream about moving to a big city, or about how you'd spend your millions if you won the lottery. To do this — dream, muse, or fantasize — is also to daydream. Your math teacher might scold you, saying, "You can't daydream in the middle of the calculus final!" The word dates from the 17th century.
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.
See Examples For:
Eden convinced an initially reluctant Jordan it was time to make the daydream real, and “Ballet Reign” premiered on Dec. 21, 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
The success of the bearded, ass-kicking Ranger marked a stunning reversal of fortune for Norris, who grew up a shy, unathletic child, who "used to daydream about being strong...to beat up the bullies".
From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 2026
There, the mother darns socks and sweeps the endless dust, while the thoroughly American children daydream in midcentury fantasia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
For millennials and Gen Z kids like mine, there was once a golden era when you could just daydream all day about getting your invitation to Hogwarts without any associations with a full-time transphobe.
From Salon ● May 30, 2025
And I say, Black Mary straight up and then I get to laughing at myself, setting in my kitchen having this daydream, cause the raciest thing I ever take is the purple Nehi.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
And, occasionally, she wanders into daydreams that Hayakawa presents so matter-of-factly that viewers may sometimes be unsure if what they’re seeing is actually happening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
One of the most striking revelations in this eye-opening book is how musical daydreams can connect us across geography and time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
"The office cubicle has trapped me again," he says as he daydreams of a holiday on the continent.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
“I’ve had all sorts of daydreams about every pitching thing possible as a kid — relieving, closing out a game, starting in the World Series,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2025
Not very pretty daydreams for a seventeen-year-old girl, I guess, but very satisfying.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
"I daydreamed a story," Hailey remembered on Desert Island Discs in 1986.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
For years, April had daydreamed about seeing Hunter again, imagining that he would still be the little boy she remembered.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024
But since his death on Apr. 1, their mother, Inshirah — who once daydreamed of seeing Saifeddin get married — has been unable to accept that he is gone.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
Vincent‘s purchase came after years of perusing yard sales and thrift stores with her mother. She loves PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” and has daydreamed many times of this kind of lottery ticket-level transaction.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
He slept heavily for several hours on the bus, woke and daydreamed, napped a little more, woke again at a rest stop and ate a bowl of pea soup.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Levy told the crowd that he and Gosling spent a lot of their downtime on set daydreaming about Ghost Rider and swapping ideas.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
You are standing in line alongside everyone else, daydreaming about whatever, when, out of the corner of your eye, you see a few men sprinting down the street in the opposite direction.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
When we’re daydreaming and ruminating and self-reflecting and mentally time-traveling or imagining other people’s thoughts, we’re not present.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
This divine disposition isn’t daydreaming, which sees only the small in the big.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
What’s the point of daydreaming about him, especially now?
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
