A trance is a state of mind in which someone seems to be asleep and to have no conscious control over their thoughts or actions, but in which they can see and hear things and respond to commands given by other people.
Like a man in a trance, Blake found his way back to his rooms.
They went into a trance to communicate with the spirit world.
Synonyms: daze, dream, spell, ecstasy More Synonyms of trance
trance in British English
(trɑːns)
noun
1.
a hypnotic state resembling sleep
2.
any mental state in which a person is unaware or apparently unaware of the environment, characterized by loss of voluntary movement, rigidity, and lack of sensitivity to external stimuli
3.
a dazed or stunned state
4.
a state of ecstasy or mystic absorption so intense as to cause a temporary loss of consciousness at the earthly level
5. spiritualism
a state in which a medium, having temporarily lost consciousness, can supposedly be controlled by an intelligence from without as a means of communication with the dead
6.
a type of electronic dance music with repetitive rhythms, aiming at a hypnotic effect
verb
7. (transitive)
to put into or as into a trance
Derived forms
trancelike (ˈtranceˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
C14: from Old French transe, from transir to faint, pass away, from Latin trānsīre to go over, from trans- + īre to go
trance in American English
(træns; trɑns)
noun
1.
a state of altered consciousness, somewhat resembling sleep, during which voluntary movement is lost, as in hypnosis
2.
a stunned condition; daze; stupor
3.
a condition of great mental concentration or abstraction, esp. one induced by religious fervor or mysticism
4.
in spiritualistic belief, a condition in which a medium passes under the control of some external force, as for the transmission of communications from the dead during a séance
verb transitiveWord forms: tranced or ˈtrancing
5. OLD-FASHIONED, Poetic
entrance2
Word origin
ME < OFr transe, great anxiety, fear < transir, to perish < L transire, to die, lit., go across: see transit
Examples of 'trance' in a sentence
trance
He didn't answer her, didn't seem to hear her, seemed to be in some kind of trance.
Appiganesi, Lisa DREAMS OF INNOCENCE (2003)
The trance concerto continued for exactly a quarter of an hour.
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD (2003)
With hypnotism as my subject, you might think you are going into a trance or such, and attack.
Anita Anderson SUMMER OF SECRETS (2003)
He might have got loose, had not Miss Larkins abruptly gone off into some kind of trance.
Diana Wynne Jones CHARMED LIFE (2003)
In other languages
trance
British English: trance NOUN
A trance is when someone seems to be asleep, but can see and hear things and respond to commands.
Like a man in a trance, he found his way back to his room.
American English: trance
Brazilian Portuguese: estupor
Chinese: 催眠状态
European Spanish: trance
French: transe
German: Trance
Italian: trance
Japanese: 恍惚
Korean: 최면
European Portuguese: estupor
Latin American Spanish: trance
Chinese translation of 'trance'
trance
(trɑːns)
n(c)
恍惚 (huǎnghū)
to be in/go into a trance在/陷入迷睡状(狀)态(態) (zài/xiànrù míshuì zhuàngtài)
(noun)
Definition
a dazed or stunned state
Like a man in a trance, he made his way back to the rooms.
Synonyms
daze
I was walking around in a daze.
dream
I wandered around in a kind of dream.
spell
ecstasy
the agony and ecstasy of holiday romance
muse
abstraction
rapture
His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.
reverie
The voice brought him out of his reverie.
stupor
He was drinking himself into a stupor every night.
unconsciousness
hypnotic state
Additional synonyms
in the sense of dream
Definition
a daydream
I wandered around in a kind of dream.
Synonyms
daydream,
trance,
daze,
reverie,
stupor,
hypnotic state
in the sense of ecstasy
Definition
a state of extreme delight or joy
the agony and ecstasy of holiday romance
Synonyms
rapture,
delight,
joy,
enthusiasm,
frenzy,
bliss,
trance,
euphoria,
fervour,
elation,
rhapsody,
exaltation,
transport,
ravishment
in the sense of rapture
Definition
extreme happiness or delight
His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.
Synonyms
ecstasy,
delight,
enthusiasm,
joy,
transport,
spell,
happiness,
bliss,
euphoria,
felicity,
rhapsody,
exaltation,
cloud nine (informal),
seventh heaven,
delectation (formal),
beatitude,
ravishment
Nearby words of
trance
tramp
trample
trample on or over something or someone
trance
tranquil
tranquillity
tranquillize
Synonyms of 'trance'
trance
Explore 'trance' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of reverie
Definition
absent-minded daydream
The voice brought him out of his reverie.
Synonyms
daydream,
musing,
preoccupation,
trance,
abstraction,
daydreaming,
inattention,
absent-mindedness,
brown study,
woolgathering,
castles in the air or Spain
in the sense of stupor
Definition
a state of near unconsciousness in which a person is unable to behave normally or think clearly
He was drinking himself into a stupor every night.