as in daydreaming
the state of being lost in thought
lulled by the sound of the train, she stared out the window in a trance, oblivious to the fact that the conductor was taking tickets
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Recent Examples of trance
Then, the repetitive descending melody is interrupted and restarts; in this musical rupture the trance is broken.
—
Holden Seidlitz, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
Splayed out across Bulgarian folk music, trance beats, bruxaria atmospheres, samba, and even bits of nueva ola, Free Spirits feels dialed all the way up.
—Maria Nenet Barrios, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2026
At the hillside Sense Spa, Mr Xong, a village healer and trance dancer, prepares Hmong remedies using rare forest herbs.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Mar. 2026
The floating objects, trance communications, phantom touches, miraculous healings, and poltergeist writings that followed in the five decades after Mona’s death were attributed to her and a pantheon of other notable spirits, including Black Elk.
—Shannon Taggart, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trance
Holden Seidlitz, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
Splayed out across Bulgarian folk music, trance beats, bruxaria atmospheres, samba, and even bits of nueva ola, Free Spirits feels dialed all the way up.
—Maria Nenet Barrios, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2026
At the hillside Sense Spa, Mr Xong, a village healer and trance dancer, prepares Hmong remedies using rare forest herbs.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Mar. 2026
The floating objects, trance communications, phantom touches, miraculous healings, and poltergeist writings that followed in the five decades after Mona’s death were attributed to her and a pantheon of other notable spirits, including Black Elk.
—Shannon Taggart, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trance
Noun
-
Nothing wrong with idealizing and daydreaming, but to a certain extent.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
13 Apr. 2026
-
In the album’s most beautiful moments, Triplin makes arpeggios sound like prancing through an earthly paradise and sands off juke’s rough edges to produce rhythms that seem to chug along in the margins of a daydreaming brain.—
Kiana Mickles,
Pitchfork,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Here, though, lovely poetic imagery is scrambled with old and alternate timelines, sending the reverie in unanticipated and often comic directions.—
Hannah Gold,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
The fireplace, stone walls, and ambient lighting, paired with hand-cut steaks, homemade desserts, and Virginia wine pairings, lull diners into a pleasant reverie.—
Lydia Mansel,
Southern Living,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trance. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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