fever dream

[ fee-ver dreem ]

noun

1. a particularly distressing, scary, or bizarre dream that a person may have when experiencing a fever:

   Bedridden with pneumonia, he had a fever dream in which bony old cats were climbing the walls of his room.

2. a situation, circumstance, or experience, typically unfavorable, that is odd enough to be likened more to a dream than to reality:

   So far, college has felt like a fever dream—ever since I arrived I’ve just felt so out of place.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fever dream¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

“It was kind of this, like, six-month fever dream,” he said, citing inspirations such as Robert Altman and John Cassavetes.

From Los Angeles Times

But while X has spiraled deeper into a racist fever dream and Threads has kept building its sunshine-pumping text app for influencers, Bluesky has been building.

From Slate

But we are no doubt still living through the fever dream it unleashed.

From Los Angeles Times

"Seeing all those people upset was horrible.... it kind of feels like a fever dream," he says.

From BBC

The president is having a mental breakdown in “Symphony of Rats,” a 1988 fever dream by the inveterate theatrical bad boy Richard Foreman.

From Los Angeles Times