1 hour ago, drpaladin said:

I dreamed oneiric was the Word of the Day.

I know it is a repeat, but it seems to fit in here, so.....

Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (from Alice Cooper: Trashes The World) - YouTube

Just the facts:

ONEIRIC Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

ONEIRISM Definition & Meaning | Merriam-Webster Medical

Related word like oneirology (the science of dreams)

Oneiric is an adjective that means "of or relating to dreams" or dream-like.  It comes from the Ancient Greek noun oneiros (ὄνειρος), meaning "a dream" and combines with the adjectival suffix -ic (derived via French and Latin from Greek), which means "pertaining to".  The Greek root connects to the Oneiroi, who were the personified spirits or gods of dreams in Greek mythology (the offspring or brothers of Hypnos, the god of sleep).  

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the earliest known use of the adjective oneiric in English is from 1836, appearing in the writings of the missionary Ebenezer Henderson.  While the OED traces its earliest written evidence to 1836, other dictionaries like Merriam-Webster note that the word became more broadly established or recorded later in the mid-19th century (around 1859).  It is also related dream terms like oneirology  and oneiromancy, or older 17th-century derivatives like oneirocriticism.  

The word oneiric (from the Greek oneiros, meaning "dream") refers to the quality of a dream or a dreamlike state. In storytelling—across literature, film, and theater—oneiric techniques mimic the logic, imagery, and emotional fluidity of dreams, rather than strict waking reality.  

Why Oneiric Storytelling Matters:  
Explores the Subconscious: It bypasses literal, conscious thought to expose hidden fears, unresolved trauma, repressed desires, and deep psychological truths.  
Bends Narrative Time and Causality: It allows stories to break free from linear timelines, using flashbacks, loops, surreal jumps, and fragmented memories to reflect how human minds actually process experience.  
Drives Symbolic Resonance: Objects, settings, and characters can shift meaning rapidly, operating on dream logic where a physical item or a recurring face stands in for a larger emotional or thematic concept.  
Deepens Audience Immersion: It places the spectator or reader in a trance-like, "para-oneiric" state—making them feel like active participants navigating a mystery rather than passive observers of a plot.  
Challenges Conventional Paradigms: It forces a re-evaluation of standard narrative rules, inviting audiences to feel a scene's mood and atmosphere instead of demanding tidy, real-world logic.  

Key Examples in Media:  
Literature: Writers like Franz Kafka and Gabriel García Márquez blur the line between the impossible and the everyday, treating surreal events as natural occurrences.  
Film: Directors like David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), Federico Fellini (8½), and Christopher Nolan (Inception) use disorienting soundscapes, shifting realities, and visual motifs to trap the audience inside a waking dream.