oneiric

adjective·/oʊˈnaɪr.ɪk/

Dreamlike in quality. Hushed, illogically vivid, and saturated with the sense that meaning is present but slippery. Oneiric suggests a quieter strangeness than fantastic, the world slightly unlatched.

The streetlights blurred in the rain, and the whole walk home turned oneiric, as if he were remembering it while still inside it.

Etymology

From Greek oneiros “dream,” via learned formation in modern European languages. The adjective keeps the ancient root intact, but lends it a clinical elegance—dreamness treated as a describable atmosphere.

Related Words

somnialof dreams; rarer near-synonym
hypnagogicof the state on the edge of sleep
phantasmagoricdreamlike, but more lurid and theatrical
reveriea waking drift toward dream