the American dream
noun phrase
variants
or the American Dream
: a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful
With good jobs, a nice house, two children, and plenty of money, they believed they were living the American dream.
Examples of the American dream in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Don’t look now, but the American dream is at risk of getting benched.
—
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2024
On paper, the California suburbanites represented the American dream, until the show revealed some cracks in their family portrait, culminating in the divorce of the central couple, Bill and Pat Loud.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 26 June 2024
About the everyday Black people, like her parents and herself, fulfilling the American dream.
—Alia Wong, USA TODAY, 28 Apr. 2024
For many citizens, the American dream has been downsized.
—Ro Khanna, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for the American dream 
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2024
On paper, the California suburbanites represented the American dream, until the show revealed some cracks in their family portrait, culminating in the divorce of the central couple, Bill and Pat Loud.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 26 June 2024
About the everyday Black people, like her parents and herself, fulfilling the American dream.
—Alia Wong, USA TODAY, 28 Apr. 2024
For many citizens, the American dream has been downsized.
—Ro Khanna, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for the American dream
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the American dream.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near the American dream
Cite this Entry
“The American dream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20American%20dream. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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