daydream
Mind's idle wandering
A daydream is a pleasant fantasy or series of thoughts that absorbs your attention while you're awake: She stared out the window, lost in a daydream.
To daydream is to indulge in such reverie, typically when you should be focusing on something else.
The word suggests idle, wishful thinking rather than practical planning: He daydreamed about quitting his job and moving to the coast.
Abstracted, pleasant daydream
- woolgatheringAbsent-minded indulgence in fantasy
- musingReflective contemplation
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- tranceSemiconscious, unresponsive condition
abstraction · preoccupation · absentmindedness · drifting · gazing · stargazing · head-in-clouds
Without activity or purpose
- unfocusedWithout clear direction
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- absentmindedInattentive to immediate surroundings
- driftingMoving without purpose
languid · listless · meandering · vacant · glazed · staring · loafing · wool-gathering
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- piningAching with prolonged desire
wishfulness · sigh · bittersweet · remembrance · someday · hoping · ache
Imaginative mental wandering
- visionAbility to see
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
- imaginingForming mental pictures
fancy · invention · fabrication · scenario · what-if · visualization
Capacity for original thought
- inspirationSource of creative impulse
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- brainstormingGenerating many ideas freely
- ideationForming mental concepts
musing · conjecture · speculation · what-if · possibility · inventiveness
reverie
Abstracted, pleasant daydream
- woolgatheringAbsent-minded indulgence in fantasy
- musingReflective contemplation
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
trance · abstraction · preoccupation · absentmindedness · drifting · gazing · stargazing · head-in-clouds
idle
Without activity or purpose
- unfocusedWithout clear direction
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- absentmindedInattentive to immediate surroundings
drifting · languid · listless · meandering · vacant · glazed · staring · loafing · wool-gathering · mind-wandering
longing
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
pining · wishfulness · sigh · bittersweet · remembrance · someday · hoping · ache
fantasy
Imaginative mental wandering
- visionAbility to see
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
imagining · fancy · invention · fabrication · scenario · what-if · visualization
creativity
Capacity for original thought
- inspirationSource of creative impulse
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- brainstormingGenerating many ideas freely
ideation · musing · conjecture · speculation · what-if · possibility · inventiveness
escape
Flight from captivity
- respiteShort pause from hardship
- distractionThing diverting one's attention
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
sanctuary · refuge · getaway · break · relief · solace · withdrawal · elsewhere
- dreamsnightmare, nightmares, REM sleep, dreamscape, being naked
- daydreamsfantasy, reverie, imagining, fantasizing, musing
- dream phrasesnightmare
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- mindstatescalm, alertness, confusion, contentment, relaxation
- dreamlanddreamscape, REM sleep, deep sleep, slumber, reverie
daydreamreality
What actually exists
actuality · real life · fact · truth · hard facts
daydreamfocus
Concentrated attention point
concentration · attention · sharp focus · rapt attention · alertness
daydreamnightmare
Frightening dream causing wakefulness
night terror · bad dream · anxiety dream · worry · dread
daydreaming, daydreams, daydreamer, daydreamt, daydreamed, daydreamy, daydreamers, daydreamlike