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to live the dream

to live the dream

16 4.2
To have the life you always wanted after hard work
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : vivir el sueño
  • After years of hard work, she finally opened her own bakery and is now living the dream.
  • just living the dream
  • keep living the dream
  • still living the dream

But today, my friends, we are living the dream.

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Examples

  • My teammates helped me live the dream.

    Blog text (19)
  • I really am living the dream.

    Blog text (12)
  • I mean, the four of us are living the dream here, and we finally get to share that.

  • We're all trying to live the dream while saving money.

    Blog text (32)
  • Until then, we get to live the dream and prepare for the inevitable.

    Blog text (28)
  • Russ and Suzanne, a couple that is living the dream.

    Blog text (20)
  • Jory Harcourt is finally living the dream.

    Blog text (25)
  • Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, we hope you're riding high and living the dream.

  • Sonders is young, and he's successfully living the dream as a photographer.

    Blog text (24)
  • Bio: I am a freelance web designer living the dream in Cyprus.

    Blog text (20)

Synonyms

to enjoy life
vsto live the dream
34 1.0

To feel happy and satisfied with your daily life

aims for an ideal life achieved after sustained effort

How Fulfilling

to live the dream
  • Informal
16 4.2
to make it
  • Informal
207 3.4
to get by
121 3.1

Surface Forms

live the dream infinitive
lived the dream past participle
living the dream present participle
lives the dream third person singular

Morphology

live + the + dream

The meaning 'to experience the life you have always wanted' is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'live' (to have or experience a way of life) with 'dream' (an aspiration or desired outcome). This compositional pattern (live + noun representing a state/aspiration) is common and cross-linguistically accessible, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Live the dream may come from the picture of someone really living inside a perfect dream, where everything feels easy and wonderful. So it now means 'to experience the life you want'.