Symbols of Sleep

A dictionary of dreams — 405 symbols

What did youdream last night?

Look up 405+ dream symbols and find out what your mind was working through last night — in plain English.

Or browse the full A–Z dream index, or describe a dream in your own words.

Most searched dreams

Teeth Falling Out

Losing teeth in a dream usually reflects anxiety about appearance, communication, or control, and it tends to flare up during stressful transitions rather than predicting anything physical.

001Body

Snakes

A snake in a dream tends to embody something powerful you can't quite trust — a person, an urge, or a change moving quietly beneath your ordinary life.

002Animals

Being Chased

Chase dreams are almost always about avoidance: a feeling, conflict, or decision in waking life wants your attention, and you keep outrunning it.

003Actions

Falling

Falling in a dream tracks a waking loss of footing — a job, relationship, or plan giving way with nothing solid left to grab.

004Actions

Flying

Flying dreams tend to arrive when you have broken free of something — or badly want to — mixing freedom, ambition, and a wider view of your problems.

005Actions

Your Ex

An ex in your dream is rarely about wanting them back — more often it's unfinished feelings, old patterns resurfacing, or your mind comparing then with now.

006People

Dead Relatives

Dreaming of a relative who has died usually reflects ongoing grief, love with nowhere to go, or a decision you wish you could ask them about.

007People

Being Pregnant

Dreaming you're pregnant usually signals something new growing in your life — a project, identity, or relationship still developing — rather than a literal prediction.

008Body

Spiders

Spider dreams usually center on feeling watched, stuck, or quietly controlled — something small has been spinning a web around your time, choices, or peace.

009Animals

Death

Dreaming of death almost always points to an ending or transformation — a chapter closing, an identity shed — rather than a prediction of anyone actually dying.

010Death

Water

Water in dreams mirrors your emotional state — its clarity, depth, and movement show how you're feeling underneath, from calm and clear to churning and murky.

011Water

Being Naked in Public

Finding yourself naked in public usually dramatizes a fear of exposure — a secret, a weakness, or the raw version of you that people don't normally see.

012Body

Your Partner Cheating

Cheating dreams are almost never evidence of real infidelity — they surface insecurity, fear of losing someone, or a part of the relationship feeling neglected.

013People

Babies

A baby in a dream tends to represent something newly born in your life — a project, a relationship, a version of you that needs protecting.

014People

Money

Money in dreams stands for value in the broadest sense — finding it, losing it, or counting it tracks how worthy, powerful, and resourced you currently feel.

015Objects

Houses

The house in your dream almost always stands for you — its rooms, clutter, damage, and hidden spaces map your own mind, body, and sense of self.

016Places

Tsunamis

A tsunami dream signals overwhelming emotion or change bearing down on you — something enormous you sense coming that feels too big to hold back.

017Water

Fire

Fire in a dream burns two ways: destruction of what no longer serves you, or anger and passion flaring hotter than you've admitted while awake.

018Nature

Browse by category

Body dreams

36 symbols

Dreams about your own body — teeth, hair, blood, pregnancy — tend to surface worries about health, appearance, control, and how others see you.

Animals dreams

75 symbols

Animals in dreams usually stand in for instincts and emotions you recognize but don't fully control, from hidden threats to fierce loyalty.

Actions dreams

68 symbols

Being chased, falling, flying, running late — action dreams replay the pressures and pursuits of waking life in vivid, physical form.

People dreams

42 symbols

Exes, dead relatives, celebrities, strangers — the people in your dreams are rarely about them and almost always about you.

Death dreams

23 symbols

Death dreams are rarely literal. They usually mark endings, transitions, and the parts of your life that are ready to change.

Water dreams

26 symbols

Water is the classic symbol of emotion. Its state in your dream — calm, murky, or crashing — mirrors what's moving underneath your surface.

Nature dreams

30 symbols

Fire, storms, earthquakes and other forces of nature dramatize emotions that feel bigger than you — anger, upheaval, and sudden change.

Places dreams

39 symbols

Houses, schools, hospitals, airports — dream locations map the different rooms of your inner life and the transitions between them.

Objects dreams

36 symbols

Everyday objects like money, mirrors, keys, and doors carry outsized meaning in dreams, often pointing at self-worth, identity, and opportunity.

Supernatural dreams

30 symbols

Ghosts, demons, zombies, and end-of-the-world scenarios give shape to the fears and unfinished business that haunt your waking mind.

Every dream, explained

Each entry breaks a dream down from several angles — the core meaning, the psychology behind it, and how the details change the message.

Field notes from the night

Remember your dreams.

ONE LETTER EACH FULL MOON — 285 SYMBOLS AND COUNTING