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PlainSpell

dream

UK /ˈdɹiːm/noun, verb, adjective

dream is spelled D-R-E-A-M: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dream means “Imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dream is dreams.

How many letters and syllables are in dream?

Letters5: D-R-E-A-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dream?

Dream appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dream?

  • UK /ˈdɹiːm/
  • UK [ˈdɹ̝ʷɪi̯m]
  • UK [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷɪi̯m]

Dream has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dream.wav, En-us-dream.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with dream?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dream from its last stressed vowel (/im/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: armed, derma.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dream

  • dreams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • dreaming participle, present
  • dreamed participle, past
  • dreamt participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dream mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping.

    Last night I had a vividly scary dream about an immortal snail that chased me around and could kill me if it touched me.

  2. 2

    A hope or wish.

    This year I fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting the South Pacific.

  3. 3

    A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy.

    live in a dream

verb

  1. 1

    To see imaginary events in one's mind while sleeping.

    Although people primarily dream during the REM phase of sleeping, they can dream during non-REM sleep as well.

  2. 2

    To hope, to wish.

    Lucy dreams of becoming a scientist when she grows up.

  3. 3

    To daydream.

    Stop dreaming and get back to work.

  4. 4

    To envision as an imaginary experience (usually when asleep).

    I dreamed a vivid dream last night.

  5. 5

    To consider the possibility (of).

    I wouldn't dream of snubbing you in public.

adjective

  1. 1

    Ideal; perfect.

noun

as DREAM
  1. 1

    USAcronym of development, relief, and education for alien minors.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dream in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrêve, songe (imaginary events seen while sleeping), voeu, souhait (hope or wish), rêver (see imaginary events while sleeping), souhaiter (to hope, to wish)
GermanTraum, Draam (imaginary events seen while sleeping), Wunsch (hope or wish), träumen (see imaginary events while sleeping), wünschen (to hope, to wish)
Portuguesesonho (imaginary events seen while sleeping), desejo (hope or wish), sonhar (see imaginary events while sleeping), desejar (to hope, to wish)
Spanishsueño, ensueño (imaginary events seen while sleeping), soñar, ensoñar (see imaginary events while sleeping)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dream come from?

From Middle English dream, dreem, dreeme, drem, dreme, dræm, from Old English drēam, drēm, drīm (“joy; melody, music; frenzy”), from Proto-West Germanic *draum, from Proto-Germanic *draumaz (“dream”), from earlier *draugmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrowgʰ-mos, from *dʰrewgʰ- (“to deceive”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dream