dreamboat

English

WOTD – 14 February 2022

Etymology

From dream +‎ boat, probably suggesting a person “carrying” or embodying the dreams of another; the term appeared in some 1930s and 1940s love songs, referring to a metaphorical boat carrying a lover’s dreams, such as “When My Dream Boat Comes Home” (1936) written by the Canadian-American bandleader Guy Lombardo (1902–1977) and “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” (1941) by the American songwriters Otis (1898–1970) and Leon René (1902–1982), and Emerson Scott.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹiːmbəʊt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹimˌboʊt/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -iːmbəʊt
Hyphenation: dream‧boat

Noun

dreamboat (plural dreamboats) (originally US)

(informal, dated or humorous) An exceptionally good-looking and sexually attractive person, particularly a man.
Synonyms: hottie, hunk, looker, stunner; see also Thesaurus:beautiful man, Thesaurus:beautiful person

Antonyms: see Thesaurus:ugly person

My new fella is such a dreamboat. He can dance, can sing, and is the captain of the school hockey team.
(slang, archaic) Anything considered highly desirable for its kind, especially a car.
Synonyms: beaut, peach

My new car is a dreamboat.

Translations

exceptionally good-looking and sexually attractive person, particularly a man

Chinese:
Mandarin: 夢中情人 / 梦中情人 (mèngzhōng qíngrén), 夢中人 / 梦中人 (mèngzhōngrén)
French: apollon (fr) m, beau gosse (fr), canon (fr), femme de (mes/tes/...) rêve(s) f, homme de (mes/tes/...) rêve(s) m, prince charmant (fr) m or c
German: Traummann (de) m
Japanese: ドリームボート (dorīmubōdo)
Russian: красавчик (ru) (krasavčik)
Spanish: bombón (es) m

anything considered highly desirable for its kind

References

^ “dreamboat, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2020; “dreamboat, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.