Fever Dream – Meaning, Origin and Usage
Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘fever dream’? Did you assume that it means dreams you have during a fever? It turns out that isn’t what it means…
Still curious? Then you’ve come to the right place, here I’m going to unpack everything you need to know about the phrase. I’ll start by spelling out what it means before delving into the origin of the phrase.
I’ll include examples of when and how to use the phrase, and also provide a selection of alternatives that you can use in its place, before rounding off with a conclusion.
And without further ado…
What is the meaning of the phrase ‘fever dream’?
The term ‘fever dream’ is used to describe a dream which feels so real while you are dreaming that when you wake up from the dream, you feel confused about which realm is the real one. The dream one or the one where you woke up.
If you’ve heard of lucid dreams, you may well be wondering whether a fever dream is the same thing. It’s not. When in a lucid dream, you can consciously control where the dream takes you and what happens in the dream. But during a fever dream, you have no such control.
Despite the name, a fever dream isn’t really associated with having an actual fever. You don’t have to have a fever to have a fever dream.
What is the origin of the phrase ‘fever dream’?
The phrase ‘fever dream’ appears to have entered the English language in the early 1800s, when westerners visiting Africa had mosquito bites and caught malaria. Once infected with malaria, the westerners would experience long bouts of fever that occasionally ended in death. During this fever, the person would experience intensely vivid dreams and hallucinations.
The first recorded use have of the term ‘fever dream’ in English comes from a letter penned by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1801, which featured the sentence:
“Even the Forms which struck terror into me in my fever-dreams were still forms of Beauty.”
There has been speculation that the term ‘fever dream’ appeared in other languages much earlier. For example, the Germans have the word ‘Fiebertraum,’ which translates to ‘fever dream.’
The term ‘fever dream’ continues to be used to this day, and it’s more common than you might expect. In fact, one study conducted by medical researchers in 2020 found that out of 164 participants surveyed, a staggering 100 of them had experienced ‘fever dreams’.
When and how can you use the phrase ‘fever dream’?
‘Fever dreams’ can be good, bad, or anywhere in between, and it does not have to be accompanied by a fever of any kind. This really opens up the number of opportunities to use the phrase. Here follows several examples of the term ‘fever dream’ in use:
- ‘What a nightmare. That was one bad fever dream!’
- ‘That was one great fever dream!’
- ‘That felt so real! Must have been my first fever dream.’
- ‘Well, my lucid dreaming didn’t work out, but at least I had my first ever fever dream.’
- ‘I’m worried about him – he keeps having these crazy fever dreams.’
- ‘I wonder if I’ll have another fever dream again tonight?
- ‘I can’t wait to have another fever dream.’
- ‘I hope I don’t have any more of those nasty fever dreams I’ve been having lately.’
- ‘Man, these fever dreams! I honestly feel like I’m a character in the film Inception. So vivid, so real.’
What are some other ways of saying ‘fever dream’?
If someone just woke up from a fever dream, they may say something like:
- ‘Where am I? Am I dreaming?’
- ‘You mean that was just a dream? I was so sure it was real. I was convinced.’
- ‘That was the most realistic, vivid, believable dream I’ve ever had in my entire life.’
If you want to talk about you fever dreams, but the person or people you’re speaking with haven’t heard of fever dreams, here are some suggestions about what you might say in its place:
- ‘I’ve been having such crazy dreams, but in every single one of them, they are so vivid, and they feel so real.’
Final thoughts
So, to sum up, a fever dream is basically a dream that feels very vivid and real. So real, that you feel confused on waking.
It’s somewhat different from a lucid dream, because while lucid dreams allow you to make your dream turn out the way you want it to, in a fever dream you don’t have this kind of control.
You don’t need to have a fever in order to have a fever dream. The term ‘fever dream’ dates back many years to around 1800, and is still often used today to describe a vivid but delusional state.
