oneiric
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of oneiric
First recorded in 1855–60; from Greek óneir(os) “dream” + -ic
Explanation
Oneiric is an adjective that describes things related to dreams. At the end of The Wizard of Oz, you are left to decide if Dorothy really traveled to Oz or if she was simply in an oneiric state, dreaming up the whole adventure. Oneiric comes from the Greek word oneiros, meaning "a dream." In Greek mythology, the Oneiroi, or Dreams, were the brothers (or sons, depending on the author) of Hypnos, or Sleep. Homer, Ovid, and Euripides all wrote about them — Homer in both The Odyssey and The Iliad. The adjective oneiric is often used in film theory to describe the dream-like elements of a movie.
Vocabulary lists containing oneiric
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.
In “A Boy Named Isamu,” James Yang imagines an ideal, almost oneiric day in the life of the sculptor Isamu Noguchi as a young child.
From New York Times • Nov. 12, 2021
Elsewhere, there is a naïve, almost oneiric undertow.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 27, 2017
One cannot help but wonder how the novel might have taken shape had this strange second point of view been allowed to flower, perhaps in running counterpoint to the oneiric picaresque of the main narrative.
From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2015
The result was an oneiric, viscerally frightening combination of all-too-real historical horrors and Hollywood-enabled fantasy.
From Slate • Jul. 17, 2015
What we wish for, is ours. mg It is the age of oneiric culture.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
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.
