Crush

What does it mean to dream about crush?

A crush often stands for longing, possibility, or a quality you are drawn to, rather than a literal sign about whether the feeling is returned.

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Four ways to read it

Each reading below comes from a named tradition and a cited source, so you can see where it came from and decide what fits your dream.

Freud

Freud would read a crush as the open expression of a desire that waking life keeps in check. He would ask what wish the figure lets the dreamer enjoy in disguise.

After Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (Brill trans., 1913), public domain.

Jung

Jung might see a crush as a carrier of the anima or animus, an inner image of love projected onto a real person. The qualities you long for in them are often qualities seeking life in you.

Jungian concept (our summary).

Modern

Continuity ties a crush to waking attraction, hope, or preoccupation with the person. The dream usually reflects the strength of the feeling rather than predicting its outcome.

Continuity hypothesis (our summary).

Mythological

The longed-for one runs through myth as the object of desire that drives the lover to daring and to grief. The figure tends to embody yearning and the gap between wish and possession.

Rosmerta Publishing editorial synthesis (after Bulfinch; Brewer).

This is a starting point to think with, not a verdict. Your own associations matter most.

If distressing nightmares keep returning, it can help to talk them over with a doctor or therapist.

Interpretations are adapted in our own words from public-domain sources, including G. H. Miller, Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted (1901), Freud (Brill translation, 1913), and Artemidorus, with cross-cultural context from Bulfinch and others. Jungian and modern-cognitive entries are original summaries of those ideas. See the bibliography for full sources.

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