Question

30 June

Simplified Chinese (China)

English (US)
Korean
English (UK)

Question about English (US)

Is this use of “dreamy” common?
“What does he look like? I bet he’s dreamy.”

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Answers

RetinueZireugh

30 June

Filipino Near fluent

@studiousme

It's still used.

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isthmus_x

30 June

English (UK)
English (US)

@studiousme

It’s not as common as it used to be, but everybody understands it.

It was so popular and over exposed during the 1950s and 60s, I think that most people these days treated as a bit of a joke word – like something that only old people say. And yet, I still hear people saying it sincerely on occasion. It hasn’t died yet.

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studiousme

30 June

Simplified Chinese (China)

@RetinueZireugh Ok. Thank you.

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studiousme

30 June

Simplified Chinese (China)

@isthmus_x Got it. Thank you. Can I use “ideal” to replace “dreamy”? Is it natural to say “I bet he’s ideal”?

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isthmus_x

30 June

English (UK)
English (US)

@studiousme

I’ve never heard anybody use that word for that particular purpose. I think we associate the notion of – the ideal – with something less romantic, more intellectual and cold.

That said, people will use that word to describe certain attributes of a person – just not the person in total. It’s not completely unusual to hear somebody talk about the ideal physique, stuff like that. But the sense of the word in this usage is totally different from dreamy. Dreamy is what it says it is – a romance, a dream, a world of emotions.

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isthmus_x

30 June

English (UK)
English (US)

@studiousme

One other thing – by far the biggest group of people using the word dreamy these days, is young gay men, talking about other young gay men. Some women use it, but nowhere near as much as gay men.

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studiousme

30 June

Simplified Chinese (China)

@isthmus_x Good to know. So what words can I use if I can’t use “dreamy” and “ideal” to talk about a man’s delightful appearance?

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isthmus_x

30 June

English (UK)
English (US)

@studiousme

Well, I didn’t say you couldn’t use it. I think it’s a wonderful thing to say if you are truly sincere.

You could say all kinds of things. You could say that he is to die for. You could say that he is like a young God. You could say that his features are chiselled from the heart wood of a green tree. Be creative!

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studiousme

30 June

Simplified Chinese (China)

@isthmus_x You’re so creative. 😂 I didn’t know these expressions before. Thank you.

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Is this use of “dreamy” common?
“What does he look like? I bet he’s dreamy.”

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Is this use of “dreamy” common?“What does he look like? I bet he’s dreamy.” See a translation

@studiousme It's still used.

@studiousme One other thing – by far the biggest group of people using the word dreamy these days, is young gay men, talking about other young gay men. Some women use it, but nowhere near as much as gay men.

Is this use of “dreamy” common?
“What does he look like? I bet he’s dreamy.”

See a translation

@studiousme

It's still used.

@studiousme

One other thing – by far the biggest group of people using the word dreamy these days, is young gay men, talking about other young gay men. Some women use it, but nowhere near as much as gay men.