American Dream
American Dream proper noun: the ideal stressing egalitarianism and that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve material prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
Proper noun
the American Dream (plural American Dreams)
- The ideal stressing egalitarianism and that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve material prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
- They are not racists or sick; they are not guilty of the crime that plagues the land. They are black and they are white —they're native born and foreign born—they're young and they're old. […] They give drive to the spirit of America. They give lift to the American Dream.1968 August 8, Richard Nixon, Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, Miami Beach, Florida
- If America has stood for anything unique in the history of the world, it has been for the American dream, the belief in the common man and the insistence upon his having, as far as possible, equal opportunity in every way with the rich one.1931, James Truslow Adams, The Epic Of America, Boston: Little, Brown, And Company, page 135
Noun capitalized: American dream
the American dream (plural American dreams)
- Alternative letter-case form of American Dream.
American Dream meaning in Marathi and Vietnamese
American Dream in Marathi
- the ideal stressing equality and prosperity for all Americans
- अमेरिकन ड्रीम amerikan ḍrīm, अमेरिकन स्वप्न amerikan svapna
American Dream in Vietnamese
- the ideal stressing equality and prosperity for all Americans
- giấc mơ Mĩ, giấc mơ Mỹ
Examples of American Dream in a sentence
- But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.1931, James Truslow Adams, The Epic Of America, Boston: Little, Brown, And Company, Epilogue, page 404:
- “The whole notion of the American dream,” said Frank Levy, an M.I.T. economist, “described a mass upward mobility that is just a lot harder to achieve right now.”2012 October 24, David Leonhardt, quoting Frank Levy, “Standard of Living Is in the Shadows as Election Issue”, in The New York Times...
- And the American dream is surging —bigger and better than ever before.2025 March 5, Naomi Lim, quoting Donald Trump, “Trump to say America’s ‘momentum’ is back after Biden’s ‘mess’”, in Washington Examiner:
Forms of American Dream
| Proper noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | American Dreams |
| alternative form | American dream |
| Noun | |
| plural | American dreams |
Origin of American Dream
Of unknown origin. First attested in the 1910s. Popularized by American writer and historian James Truslow Adams in 1931.
Questions about American Dream
- What does American Dream mean?
- American Dream means the ideal stressing egalitarianism and that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve material prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
- What is American Dream in Marathi?
- American Dream in Marathi is अमेरिकन ड्रीम (amerikan ḍrīm), अमेरिकन स्वप्न (amerikan svapna). See American Dream meaning in Marathi.
- How do you use American Dream in a sentence?
- But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.
- What part of speech is American Dream?
- American Dream can be a proper noun or a noun.
Words near American Dream in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: American Dream (page history and authors); American dream (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-American Dream.ogg.
Cite this entry: “American Dream.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/american_dream. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.