- a particularly distressing, scary, or bizarre dream that a person may have when experiencing a fever:Bedridden with pneumonia, he had a fever dream in which bony old cats were climbing the walls of his room.
- a situation, circumstance, or experience, typically unfavorable, that is odd enough to be likened more to a dream than to reality: So far, college has felt like a fever dream—ever since I arrived I’ve just felt so out of place.
