꿈 kkum

Speakers use this to refer both to the mental images experienced during sleep and to personal hopes or goals for the future. It pairs with verbs like 꾸다 when talking about sleep experiences, and with verbs like 가지다, 이루다, and 포기하다 when discussing life aims. It also combines with descriptive words like 많다 and 크다 to characterize an individual's aspirations. In everyday conversation, speakers use it naturally to share what they experienced the previous night or to discuss what they want to become.

When discussing future goals, the word can carry a tone of personal earnestness, while references to nighttime experiences often serve as an opening to share personal worries or superstition-tinged beliefs about the future.

◆ prediction — Speakers use this to refer to sleeping visions that carry symbolic meaning about the future, such as seeing deceased family members or experiencing frightening events. It pairs with descriptions of emotional impact like bad or frightening, and combines with verbs for having dreams or interpreting their signs. When someone shares an unsettling dream, listeners often respond with traditional comforts about dreams meaning the opposite.

Can carry cultural weight regarding superstition or traditional belief, where certain visions are treated as genuine portents of upcoming fortune or misfortune.

◆ ambition — Speakers use this to talk about long-term career aspirations, personal goals, and future ambitions. It combines with verbs for achieving, holding, or abandoning goals, such as 이루다, 가지다, and 버리다. It also pairs with descriptors like 크다 and 많다 to describe people with grand or numerous ambitions. In dialogue, it appears when people ask about or state their future occupations, such as wanting to become a teacher.

When asking children or peers about their future goals, it can carry an encouraging and affectionate tone.

◆ delusion — Speakers use this to describe unrealistic expectations, fantasies, or schemes that have almost no chance of happening. It frequently appears alongside modifiers indicating falsehood or futility, such as 헛된, 허황된, or 한낱. It often combines with words like 불과하다 to emphasize that someone's ambitious plan is nothing more than an impossible fantasy.

When directed at someone's plans or expectations, this can sound dismissive or harsh, effectively waking them up from a fantasy.