dream
Americannoun
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dreams
plural
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a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
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the sleeping state in which this occurs.
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an object seen in a dream.
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an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
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a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.
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an aspiration; goal; aim.
A trip to Europe is his dream.
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a wild or vain fancy.
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something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence.
verb (used without object)
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dreams,
present (3rd person singular)
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dreamed,
past participle, past
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dreamt,
past participle, past
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dreaming
present participle
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to have a dream.
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to indulge in daydreams or reveries.
He dreamed about vacation plans when he should have been working.
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to think or conceive of something in a very remote way (usually followed byof ).
I wouldn't dream of asking them.
verb (used with object)
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dreams,
present (3rd person singular)
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dreamed,
past participle, past
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dreamt,
past participle, past
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dreaming
present participle
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to see or imagine in sleep or in a vision.
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to imagine as if in a dream; fancy; suppose.
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to pass or spend (time) in dreaming (often followed byaway ).
to dream away the afternoon.
adjective
verb phrase
noun
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mental activity, usually in the form of an imagined series of events, occurring during certain phases of sleep
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( as modifier )
a dream sequence
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( in combination )
dreamland
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-
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a sequence of imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake; daydream; fantasy
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( as modifier )
a dream world
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a person or thing seen or occurring in a dream
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a cherished hope; ambition; aspiration
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a vain hope
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a person or thing that is as pleasant, or seemingly unreal, as a dream
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to move, develop, or work very well
verb
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(may take a clause as object) to undergo or experience (a dream or dreams)
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(intr) to indulge in daydreams
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(intr) to suffer delusions; be unrealistic
you're dreaming if you think you can win
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to have an image (of) or fantasy (about) in or as if in a dream
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to consider the possibility (of)
I wouldn't dream of troubling you
adjective
Synonym Usage
Dream, nightmare, and vision refer to the kinds of mental images that form during sleep. Dream is the general term for any such succession of images. A nightmare is a dream that brings fear or anxiety: frightened by a nightmare. Vision refers to a series of images of unusual vividness, clarity, order, and significance, sometimes seen in a dream.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dreamfulnessnoun
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dreamingnoun
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dreamlessnessnoun
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redreamverb
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dreamfuladjective
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dreamlessadjective
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dreamlikeadjective
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undreamedadjective
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undreamingadjective
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undreamlikeadjective
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dreamfullyadverb
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dreaminglyadverb
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dreamlesslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dreamsimple
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dreamssimple
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have dreamedperfect
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have dreamtperfect
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has dreamedperfect
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has dreamtperfect
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am dreamingprogressive
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are dreamingprogressive
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is dreamingprogressive
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have been dreamingperfect progressive
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has been dreamingperfect progressive
Past
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dreamedsimple
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dreamtsimple
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had dreamedperfect
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had dreamtperfect
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was dreamingprogressive
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were dreamingprogressive
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had been dreamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dream
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English dreem, Old English drēam “joy, mirth, gladness,” cognate with Old Saxon drōm “mirth, dream,” Old Norse draumr, Old High German troum “dream”
Explanation
A dream is one of the little movies in your mind that play at night, or a type of hope: you might dream of being a doctor. Everyone dreams, and dreams tend to be weird, but the images and sounds that fill your head as you sleep are just part of the meaning of this word. People also have dreams that are kind of like plans and goals: many people dream of being movie stars. A good car runs like a dream. Something too good to be true feels like a dream. If you're acting confused, someone might say, "Stop dreaming!"
Vocabulary lists containing dream
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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.
See Examples For:
Once the 34-year-old has his hands on a kit, he wouldn’t dream of using the high-end beauty products inside—even on a flight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
And, again, like Mona, accepting that dream as a potential reality can shift your self-perception entirely.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
Jordan, who has lived with an eating disorder since he was 12, said the photoshoot was the culmination of a dream he had held onto since a relapse in his teens.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
"It is the stuff that you dream about."
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
I had the strange feeling that I’d just awoken from a dream, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Several government officials were called to testify about the hasty removal on the Washington site where the president dreams of building a championship-level course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
So instead of letting my expensive tastes bankrupt my family, I’m planning the wedding of my dreams on a budget.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
But just as often, these turn out to be children’s fantasies — wide-eyed dreams of imaginary futures, tempered by real life.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
"Damilola's legacy to me means being able to be unrealistic with your dreams," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
He said that to turn our dreams into reality we’d need two things—freedom and money—and he asked if any of us had ever worked for real money before.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Who wants to listen to this Beatles pastiche, dreamed up to get Tom Hanks’ film studio off the ground?
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
That is what the Kennedy Center was named for: a president who dreamed of a country unafraid of beauty, unafraid of grace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
McBurnie, not so much the prodigal son but now the forgiven one, had that big chance six minutes into the new half - the one he would have dreamed about.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Like the rest of us, he never dreamed of moving to Bremerton, either.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Penelope had long dreamed of visiting the ballet, and knew all about it.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
We are introduced to mortgage-backed securities and to the people who dreamt them up and abused them, antiheroes of the 2007-09 debt debacle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Ever since he was a young boy and his father relocated to the USA, Godwin Forde had dreamt of living there too.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
From a modest family, he dreamt of becoming a computer engineer to "change his life", he told AFP, withholding his surname because "the fear is still there".
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Money itself is just a construct, one with rules dreamt up by humans.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
She dreamt continually of bread, of grainy ryes and pumpemickels, whole wheat and challah in woven straw baskets.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The idea of runaway doom is one of those fun and frightening pictures that survive only in the moment between dreaming and waking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
When you’re dreaming up a runway collection, do you have a specific cast of people in mind who influence the designs — real people, imagined characters or figures from your own life and imagination?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
During this stage, the apparent energy supply to the dreaming brain increases, yet levels of the energy molecule neurons directly use actually decline.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Now, like many Iranian students dreaming of a future elsewhere, she is scrambling to find another way to take it, while absorbing the new exam fee and hefty travel costs.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Around him, the Forest creaked in its sleep, dreaming its deep green dreams.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
