Also called: alchera. alcheringa. (in the mythology of Australian Aboriginal peoples) a mythical Golden Age of the past
informal any remote period, out of touch with the actualities of the present
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Peacocks, jellyfish, giant frogs and a mermaid inhabit a dreamtime of otherworldly balance in the gouaches and watercolors, all from the 1950s and ’60s, of this presentation.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
It’s a meditation on the psychic effects of motherland dreamtime: “Darker the berry, sweeter the fruit/ Deeper the wounded, deeper the roots/ Nubian doused in brown, I’m loungin’ in it.
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2019
Nango's tale was more than an aboriginal "dreamtime" story.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 19, 2017
They inspired me to lean down to read the message etched below the statue that so many have come to associate with Duane’s lucid dreamtime story.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2016
Youth be bearer Soon of hardihood; Life be fairer, Loyaller to good; Till the far lamps vanish into light, Rest in the dreamtime.
From The Hill A Romance of Friendship by Vachell, Horace Annesley
Watkins, the dental anesthesiologist, has more than 20 years of experience administering general anesthesia to children and owns Dreamtime Dentistry, according to the news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2025
To be honest, flying on a swan through Dreamtime is positively vanilla compared with some of the stuff that goes on here at 5am on Monday morning.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2020
“Weatherby places it even farther back in time than the First Century, into the Dreamtime, which constitutes the deepest reality and strongest identity marker for Australia’s Indigenous people.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2020
Just look at Joe Hill and Angie Perry-Mansell, the couple behind Dreamtime Bakehouse and Grow Tours, Darwin-based businesses that have a flavor all their own.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2018
Behind him, a transparent Aboriginal Custodian whispers calmly his Dreamtime story of creation by a fish.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
