reverie

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (6)  · 
The sound that had broken her reverie was the gentle sweep of big-bladed oars through the calm sea.

View all »
Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A state of abstracted musing; daydreaming.
  2. noun A daydream: "I felt caught up in a reverie of years long past” (William Styron).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • They are preceded or followed by a state of langour or reverie, a kind of depression, and sometimes drowsiness. —  Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
  • "Mystical love to God" was the catchword which brought people to plunge into ecstatic reverie, and by complete immersion in contemplation to lose their personality, and by this self-annihilation to be absorbed in God. —  Mystics and Saints of Islam
  • In the silent interval of the girl's slow emergence from her reverie, his gaze upon her was so steady that when Lydia finally glanced up at him he could not for a moment look away. —  The Squirrel-Cage
  • Nor does any shadow of the coming struggle with the Church disturb the young scholar's reverie, as he wanders beneath "the high embowed roof, with antique pillars massy proof, and storied windows richly dight, casting a dim religious light," or as he hears "the pealing organ blow to the full-voiced choir below, in service high and anthem clear Milton's enjoyment of the gaiety of life stands in bright contrast with the gloom and sternness which strife and persecution fostered in Puritanism at a later time. —  History of the English People, Volume V (of 8) Puritan England, 1603-1660
  • It was then about 2 A.M A sharp sound disturbed my reverie--the sound of a horse's hoofs galloping over the rocky river-bed. —  Adventures in Many Lands
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 391 times.

1 person has marked this word as a favorite.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

contemplation ·  abstraction ·  trance ·  musings ·  lethargy ·  slumber ·  ecstasy ·  reminiscence ·  revery ·  sadness ·  stupor ·  exaltation
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, revelry, from Old French, from rever, to dream.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈrɛvəri/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a week.

Recently looked up

intrinsic · volatility · frog · pomegranate · tubular

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

eu oi oìa u ou e u oìa · the octopi are dry · Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket