dreaming
Sleeping mind's theater
Dreaming is the experience of images, sensations, and narratives during sleep.
As an adjective, it describes someone lost in thought or fantasy: a dreaming child gazing out the window.
The word carries connotations of imagination and aspiration—someone dreaming of success envisions a desired future.
I must have been dreaming dismisses an unrealistic expectation.
Acronym for dreaming phase
- nightmaresTerrifying sleep experiences
- slumberLight, restful unconsciousness
- sleepRecurring unconscious repose
- nappingSleeping briefly, often midday
rest · bedtime · drowsiness · nocturnal · night terrors · sleep talking · sleepwalking · waking
Of folklore, not fact
- magicalPossessing supernatural power
- enchantedUnder magical influence
- fairy taleMagical children's narrative
- wonderlandMagical place of marvels
imaginary · make-believe · whimsical · storybook · adventure · escapism · reverie · fancy
Desire for achievement
- goalsIntended end results
- visionAbility to see
- hopeDesire for good outcomes
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
desire · aspiration · pursuit · quest · longing · wishing · imagining · envisioning
Advance sense of future events
- visionAbility to see
- omenProphetic indicator
- foresightAbility to anticipate futures
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
oracle · divination · clairvoyance · precognition · warning · foretelling · augury · portent
Not awake or aware
- psycheTotal mental life
- FreudFounder of psychoanalysis
- JungAnalytical psychology founder
- archetypesUniversal symbolic patterns
repression · symbolism · interpretation · wish fulfillment · free association · dreamwork · collective unconscious · shadow self
Source of creative impulse
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- inventionNew device or method
- museThink deeply about
- brainstormingGenerating many ideas freely
ideation · visualization · innovation · artistic vision · creative thinking · incubation · problem-solving · eureka moment
Strikingly unconventional
- distortedMisshapen from original form
- morphingSeamless visual transformation process
- flyingMoving through air
- fallingMoving downward freely
nonsensical · fantastical · impossible · shapeshifting · kaleidoscopic · disjointed · fragmented · otherworldly
REM
Acronym for dreaming phase
- nightmaresTerrifying sleep experiences
- slumberLight, restful unconsciousness
- sleepRecurring unconscious repose
napping · rest · bedtime · drowsiness · nocturnal · night terrors · sleep talking · sleepwalking · waking · drifting off
mythical
Of folklore, not fact
- magicalPossessing supernatural power
- enchantedUnder magical influence
- fairy taleMagical children's narrative
wonderland · imaginary · make-believe · whimsical · storybook · adventure · escapism · reverie · fancy · fictional worlds
ambition
Desire for achievement
yearning · desire · aspiration · pursuit · quest · longing · wishing · imagining · envisioning · idealizing
premonition
Advance sense of future events
revelation · oracle · divination · clairvoyance · precognition · warning · foretelling · augury · portent · soothsaying
unconscious
Not awake or aware
archetypes · repression · symbolism · interpretation · wish fulfillment · free association · dreamwork · collective unconscious · shadow self · hidden meaning
inspiration
Source of creative impulse
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- inventionNew device or method
- museThink deeply about
brainstorming · ideation · visualization · innovation · artistic vision · creative thinking · incubation · problem-solving · eureka moment · Paul McCartney
bizarre
Strikingly unconventional
- distortedMisshapen from original form
- morphingSeamless visual transformation process
- flyingMoving through air
falling · nonsensical · fantastical · impossible · shapeshifting · kaleidoscopic · disjointed · fragmented · otherworldly · strange
- gerundswalking, running, talking, eating, sleeping
- sleepsleep, sleeping, nap, doze, slumber
- dreamsnightmare, nightmares, REM sleep, dreamscape, being naked
- bedtimesleeping, pajamas, napping, resting, bedtime story
- body functionsbreathing, digestion, heartbeat, circulation, respiration
- daydreamsfantasy, reverie, imagining, fantasizing, musing
dreamingrealistic
True to life
pragmatic · practical · grounded · level-headed · clear-eyed
- keep dreamingDismissive of unlikely hopes
- lucid dreamingSleep state with awareness
- dreaming spiresOxford's iconic towers