dreamer

American  

[dree-mer] / ˈdri mər /

noun

1. a person who dreams.

   The dream provides insights into the interior life of the dreamer, or so say many psychotherapists.

2. a person who lives in a world of fantasy; one who is impractical and unrealistic.

   The phrase "economically illiterate" has long been used to smear leftists as unrealistic utopian dreamers.

3. a person whose ideas or projects are considered audacious or highly speculative; visionary.

   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was considered a dreamer—and what a wonderful dream it is!

4. Usually Dreamer Sometimes DREAMer a person who qualifies for DACA or the Dream Act.

---

dreamer British  

/ ˈdriːmə /

noun

1. a person who dreams habitually

2. a person who lives in or escapes to a world of fantasy or illusion; escapist

3. archaic a prophet; visionary

---

Etymology

Origin of dreamer

First recorded in 1250–1300; dreamer def. 4 first recorded in 2010–15; Middle English; dream, -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Her sculpture park, titled “sister dreamer lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles,” opens with a block party Saturday on the corner of Western Avenue and 76th Street.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

So it is all the more affecting that for this charming last novel, he left us with a dreamer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

British journalist William Pike, who interviewed Museveni in 1984, described him as having the "faraway look... of a dreamer, a revolutionary" who was "intensely serious but showed flashes of humour".

From Barron's • Jan. 17, 2026

When I first interviewed him in 2005, he seemed a dreamer with little hope of success and had never launched a single rocket.

From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025

He, Strange the dreamer, was going to fly.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• idealist