Dreamlikeness

/ˈdriːmlaɪknəs/ noun

Definition

The quality or state of being dreamlike; resemblance to a dream.

Etymology

From dreamlike + -ness. This is a double nominalization: dream becomes dreamlike (adjective), which then becomes dreamlikeness (noun), a common English pattern for expressing abstract qualities.

Kelly Says

Medieval philosophers puzzled over dreamlikeness as evidence for the unreality of waking life itself—this idea influenced entire philosophical traditions and later inspired the movie 'The Matrix,' which asks whether our waking world might actually be a simulation.

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