Dreaming of someone dying can mean all kinds of things. Dreams regarding death can have many different connotations.

However, many people believe that dreaming of someone dying is a bad omen. It could be a premonition of the person dying in real life. Death dreams usually signify an end to something, whether it is a relationship or a career. So is this the same when we dream of someone dying?

So what does dreaming of someone mean?

Dreaming that a specific person is dying has particular meanings:

If you dreamed that your parents died, then you could be afraid in real life of losing them. If they are ill, then this makes sense that you would dream of them dying. Another reason is that you are taking up some position of responsibility. It could also mean that you are moving on from an immature lifestyle and settling into a more stable one.

Dreaming that a sibling is dying is a common sign that you are missing them or that you do not see them as much as you would like. It is also a sign that you could be jealous of them, either their lifestyle or their relationships. Dreaming that a partner is dying is often an indication that you are trying to deal with their death in real life.

What other explanations can dreaming of someone dying have?

A change in your circumstances

Death dreams usually mean a change of some sort, as death signifies the end or a rebirth of something. Dreaming of someone dying means that this change or rebirth will happen soon if it has not already started. So you could be looking at a new career, finding a new love interest, or setting new career goals.

You feel betrayed by the person

The most common reason for dreaming of someone dying is that you feel betrayed by them in real life. If you are sad about them dying, then this means you are also sad in real life. However, if you were happy or not bothered that they died, this means that this is their punishment for betraying you and you want revenge.

The person dying has qualities you lack

There are those that believe that the person who is dying possesses certain qualities that you subconsciously lack. Think about the relationship you have with this person, are you jealous of them in real life? Do you envy them and wish you were more like them? This dream could also mean that the qualities this person has are no longer useful for you and it is time to move on.

You are afraid of losing someone

Think about your most important relationships in real life. Are you in danger of losing a special person? This could be that someone close to you is ill, or that you feel a partner is not in love with you anymore? This is quite a common dream and is simply your subconscious mind echoing what you are frightened of in real life.

You feel guilty in real life

Guilt feelings can lead to dreams about someone dying. If something terrible has happened and you think you did not do enough to help, then these types of dreams are your subconscious mind trying to deal with it.

You can even dream about someone dying if you were not actually involved in the event, but typically it will involve a close loved one.

You feel controlled by the person who is dying

This is a very subconscious cry for help. If someone in real life is controlling you to the point where you feel helpless, then dreaming about them dying is a passive way out for you.

Dreaming that they are dying doesn’t mean you want them dead, it is just that you need to escape from their controlling ways.

You fear losing something or someone

Fear of loss is often behind dreams of someone dying. When you value someone highly and you are afraid of losing them, this fear often gets transferred into your subconscious mind as dreaming. It is natural that you are afraid of losing the person you feel most strongly for.

It is sign of pregnancy

This is probably the least likely reason for dreaming of someone dying. There have been reports, however, of women dreaming about seeing a person dying just before they got confirmation of their pregnancy. This could be a literal translation of death as a kind of rebirth.

Dreaming of someone dying does not mean that they will pass away in real life. It is more likely that there is a particular feeling of loss about that person. It could be that you are missing them more than usual and usually occur around important anniversaries. Use your dreams about dying to resolve any issues you have with that person and hopefully, they will stop naturally.

Dreaming of someone dying doesn’t have to mean a bad omen. It all depends on the context and situation you are in at that time.

References:

  1. https://www.huffingtonpost.com
  2. https://www.psychologytoday.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Learning Mind. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact us.

power of misfits book banner desktop

Like what you are reading? Subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss new thought-provoking articles!

This Post Has 45 Comments

  1. Marilynn Cottrell

    I guess you didn’t read my first question. I ask what does it mean when you dream of someone who already have died. And dreamt that in your dream ALL of your dead relatives and you (me) are having conversation

  2. Sulekha Samanta

    Last night I had a Dream that there is one girl who is layed in stretcher and she was pregnant with heavy injuries and someone gave me the responsibility to take her to the another hospital safely by walking I made my best try sometimes I was trying to make her happy but sometimes I accidentally hurted her and after long journey when we reached to the hospital and I took her to the emergency room then she suddenly died. I don’t know what this means but tell me what does it mean?

  3. Lushie

    I know I’m probably most likely late on this but I am mainly on this site/article because when ever I dream about zombies for as along as I can remember since I was little (also before I was watching TWD so it was when I was in grade 4) and up until now (I’m 15) I just legit had this dream where I was with one of my older brothers along with my uncle and aunt. I was in the car with them and I asked my brother where’s mom and dad, and his response was I don’t know though not only that but my voice was like I was going to have a mental breakdown. Then as the car goes by on the highway (It’s based in the US yet I’m Canadian :/), all I see is deserted, broken places like IKEA is likeall torn down on one side and you can see people living in them peacefully which was odd to me. As soon as we get to some security border or whatever you call it, of course we get out and I obviously stay with my older brother though as we are walking through the security border and we ended up seeing walmart paper ads. It said black friday on it so I was curious enough to pick it up but my older brother had said leave it, I did as told and then we ended up going to the border security checkup thingy. At this point I couldn’t even see my aunt or uncle as if they had just disappeared. While we are waiting, I see this man in a fancy tux and he was holding his baby while waiting around, though stupid me decided to leave my brother and go explore the place. I ended up going upstairs (it was in a spiral…) and I went inside one of the rooms just to check it out. As soon as I stepped into the room, a zombie was walking around in it and he had seen me and charged at me. I left the room but the guy in the tux was right behind me so I grabbed him and forcefully put him in the room I was just in with his baby. Afterwards I heard screaming and loud cries coming from that room but I had only two emotions when that happened, I felt guilty and yet I also felt no remorse for him at all and that I needed to survive, not die. Then out of nowhere I heard multiple screams coming from downstairs so I sprinted to the main area, only to my shock to see my older brother having a zombie lunged at him and he’s trying his best to get him off of him. Now I just wanted to help him or scream out his name but he had seen me and yelled at me to get out of here, once again I did as told. I sprinted off outside somehow and there were these large frences (not the one that you see in elementary schools btw but the actual metal ones >-<) so I had to some how climb them 3 times and beyond that was a little community so I had sprinted there as fast as I could. Inside the community (it was outside of course and they had these tall townhouses but it was only by two) you could see preteens and teens walking and running home so I asked one of them If I can join them and one of them flirted with me but I didn't care. I looked back only to see my brother at the fences and I got scared and thinking what if he got bitten so I tried to go inside the house. Once I was almost inside the house, he ended up right beside me and I said aren't you dead or bitten? and he was like No then after he said that I hugged him tightly and I started crying heavily because I didn't want to lose him. anyways after we go inside the people gave us food an decided to tell us stories and my brother asked if they had went and faced the zombies before. one of the kids was like yeah but with 5 people then as he was telling us what was happening, a young girl goes and has a rampage and started killing the boy in horrible ways and my brother and I had to watch it while trying to eat our foods. AFTERWARDS I just woke up irl because I was so scared and I know my writing is a bit off, sloppy since my grammar is off, and I'm just too lazy to fix it atm. so this is what I had some what experienced this morning

  4. Kristina

    Okay well I’m only 18yrs old and I been having dreams of people dying like they aren’t just random people people its family members…………

    So the end of December I had a dream of my niece dying ( she’s 16) I can’t remember how she died I just remember seeing her in a casket and I was screening and crying asking God why and I was holding her hand tight but she didn’t say anything or she didn’t move then all of a sudden I woke up and I was outta breath then my husband ask me if I was okay but I never told him I don’t know why that whole day all I could think about is that dream and why I had it …….. I never could find an answer can someone please tell me why…….

  5. Nujhat saba

    I always see dreams of my grandpa dying

  6. yuvana

    awesome…..

  7. Julian

    i had a dream of my crush that im getting really close to and she was dying in my arms and i was crying and screaming so what does that mean does it mean like im scared to lose her or what

    1. Nina

      Most had this dream because your afraid to loose her,this could also be a sign of a new love interest to or rebirth..

  8. Emily

    I have a big problem with dreaming sometimes I wish to stop it but I can’t my dream always come the way it’s sometimes it’s gives a true exact picture of what is about to happen especially terrible scenes that’s about to happen like a death of close friends and family or accident but the problem is that no matter how much prayer I prayed it’s still happen few days ago I dreamed my brother dying I prayed and shared the dream with my sister but unfortunately it wasn’t my brother who’s about but my aunty who got heart attack and died today why does God show me things if he can’t help me to solve the problem several times I see a lot of danger but no solution sometimes it’s not dream I will just see somebody and a voice will tell me what’s about to happen all this things am tired of experiencing since there’s nothing I can do to stop them so why do I see them ??

  9. masten

    i’ve had different dreams of different random people dying in different ways. (Long stories short..)
    The first was of a random man walking on the street in a city and this car drives by randomly and shoots this guy specifically and then they all start dancing around him (mind you i don’t do any of that worshiping.)
    The next was of me and a whole bunch of random people at a camp (similar to military boot camp) and were doing this practice on the roof and all of a sudden it starts pouring down rain and the adults start saying it’s time to go inside and i start seeing these like flashes of monsters or some kind of deformed humans and they started ripping people apart..
    (i recently found out i was pregnant) Two nights ago, i was walking through a grocery store and there weren’t many people around but i noticed this man and women following me around the store and i told a store clerk about it and the people following me threw something at the clerk and bam, she was dead.. i stood there frozen and they didn’t do anything just poked around my stomach saying there’s a little one in there and then the literally blew up the whole store for me to watch the rest of the people in there die.
    Last night, i had a dream of two random girls closing a food shop down and the one girl (girl A) was heading out and the one trying to kill her (girl B) pulled out her gun and tried to shoot at girl A and she missed luckily, but girl a ran through the parking lot as a little boy (who girl a recognized as girl b’s little brother) and said help your sister is trying to kill me! and the boy says, well so am i and started chasing girl a around the field and the girl turns around and runs into the city while calling the cops, they took forever to locate girl a’s location due to her constant movement but the boy was throwing knives at girl a the whole time and the last two knives i assumed the kid had, one hit her in the back on the opposite side of her heart and the other one right in the neck which actually went through and severed her head off…
    (i know the last one is vivid and detailed. it’s the most memorable one considering it happened LAST night)
    5 march 2019

  10. Reny

    So, i have disturbing death dreams quite often and its getting hard to sleep but last night in my dream 17 people died. Usually its just one person who dies or I’d stumble upon a body. This time in my dream i was in the auditorium at the high school i go to with my parents and a bunch of other people. There was an all girl performance on the stage and i was supposed to go on next. Instead of the auditorium chairs everyone in the audience was sitting in those uncomfortable plastic classroom chairs.
    As we all stood to applaud i heard gunshots. Nobody else heard them and i tried to point them out to my parents. More shots sounded then everyone was screaming. Girls on the stage started dropping in bloody heaps as the bullets hit them and others started jumping from the stage to get away. The bullets were coming from that one room in the back with the spotlights and controls. a middle aged man with grayish wight hair was in there with a gun. I can’t remember what type though. He started shooting into the audience and all i could do was drop to the ground behind my chair with my hands on my ears. My mom put her jacket over my and tried to pull me out of the auditorium but i couldn’t move. More gun shots more screaming and then i woke up to my alarm….. So if any one can interpret this please let me know?

  11. Aurora

    The last two nights i have had dreams about my parents dying and my best friend dying. In the first dream there was a school shooter and i could hear my friend screaming in the other classroom. i heard a gun shot and he stopped screaming. The second dream was my parents were on a road trip just them. I was at my house with my two sisters and grandma when my grandma got a call saying that my parents died in a car crash. i love all of those people very much and i did a little more research. and i don’t know if this is true but i saw that it could be showing me something that will happen in the future. Is that a true fact and should i be worried? Because right now i am.

    1. Arti

      Yes something big terrific is going to be happen in your life so please relax don’t be worried so much and try to protect everybody and pray to them and if possible please download from play store YPV Sadhna and play the planetary peace meditation it will help you to protect your loving once and please do good with others and bless them all God bless you and your loved ones

  12. Nate

    Is these question answered and not judged for?? Because I had the most terrible dream I have ever had.. I am not to be broken so easily but this dream took a toll on me and made me have a fear, fear so bad I cant sleep at all

  13. Khang

    2 days ago in my dream I saw me in my old house, someone is knocking on the door so my someone I know come downstair and open the door for her. She was my dead grandma, I didn’t realize at first so I just look at her. Then, the one who was talking to her stopped. I realize she was my grandma and then she look at me with saddened eyes… then I don’t remember anything about that part anymore.

    Still in that dream, still in my old house. I saw my mother and for some reason, I immediately realize she was a spirit of my mom who isn’t dead yet. I cried and I can’t run to her and I don’t know why. She said “I’m sorry” I guess, and then disappeared.

    One of my favorite youtuber, Pewdiepie died and a video titled “The truth that needs to be clear up” I don’t exactly remember the title. I didn’t click it… just like how i can’t run to my mom or my grandma.

    The rest of my dream I remember is not important but me and my friend was going to someone’s dining room which is crowded. One of them tell me to eat octopus.

    That’s all I can remember.

  14. Marion

    My husband dreamt I died as when the Boat sank I went back for my hand bag and I died what does that mean

  15. Anonymous

    Just dreamt that my daughters best friend parents passed away. I and the mom of the girl had a missunderstanding this past October and we no longer speak. I am wondering why was I crying so much in the dream and telling my daughters friend that I was sorry for her mothers passing and telling her she will find better parents. The girl tells me in the dream her mom never kissed her or told her I love you. I was crying and feeling bad for the child because she no longer has her parents. My daughter still skypes with her and remains her friend. When asked why was I crying by an adult my reply was now the deseased will haunt me. I woke up shivering and cold.

  16. Emilia

    I keep having. Dreams of the person i love dying. In different ways eachtime. I was always the person trying to help and once i got there to them. Or once i got to the thing they needed. They would just die. And i would just…watch them…this dream has been repeated but a different scenario each time.please help me understand why.

    1. Aubrie

      You might be worried you have and unstable connection with them and you cant find anyway to fix it.

  17. Kereith

    A friend of mine dreamed that I had died and was desperately trying to get hold of my sister.

    We have known each other for over 20 years and talk almost every day. I also had a dream about her and we were living together.
    Sometimes we do fight/argue, quite big ones. Last one was over 3 years ago and they hurt emotionally.

  18. Yatziri

    Hello people fromthe other side.

  19. Susan

    I had a dream last night that I had died. I went up to a room where my grandparents were and sat across the table from them. I was mad that I had died when I looked in the mirror I realized yes! I was dead. There was also at the beginning of the dream I was at a gathering and my spouse was wanting another woman. when he disappeared i went looking for him and when I found him that is when I found myself on a ledge and apparently fell of a scaffold. I didn’t feel any pain or see how I fell but ended up in a spirit form. Then as I was sitting across from my grandparents I felt so mad that I had died like i wasn’t ready to only to find him moving on with his life and getting together with this suspected woman in the beginning. It was a bad dream but I am really wondering what all It could mean.

  20. darr

    I dreamed last night of being on a bridge with concrete, white balusters. On the bridge was a bar behind me. There were several people mingling about. The atmosphere felt like everyone there was just having a good time. I looked over to my right and there is this older guy wearing short bathing trunks. I have a premonition he is going to jump. Well, a young man dressed in a white shirt with long black hair steps upon the railing and just jumps off without hesitation. I lean way over the railing thinking don’t fall as I look down and see him plummeting toward the river below which is shallow. In the dream I am hoping he hits the water yet am curious if he can survive a fall from this great of distance. In fact I remember hoping he will hit the water. He doesn’t make it. Instead he hits one of the flat rocks barely beneath the water’s surface. Upon impact his body gets mangled and crumpled. I can see his broken image lying upon the rock. His left arm is at an impossible angle. The bone of his right leg protrudes through the skin. The back of his head is flattened. I find it odd in the dream I can see all this detail when his body is so far below. I turn around and immediately shout for someone to dial 911. Upon waking I feel sick from viewing such a horrible death and even now, hours later, still visualize the young man’s body lying on the rock being washed by the water.

  21. Sablan Se7en

    Last Night I had a dream that a person whom I dont know personally but I have seen that person. That person is just a little kid like she is in real life, anyways she gets taken and I recieve three notes. I cant recall the first notes but the second and laat one were very clear. The 2nd one read: She is mine and there is nothing you, or her father (a person I am close to) could do. The last one read: As always you fail, SHES DEAD.
    When i got the first note i felt the need to find her when i got the second one it was like she had become my responsibility, but when i read the last it was as if i was at fault because i didnt tell her father what was going on and now he not only lost one daughter but now hes lost two.

  22. Flowerpea

    My friend’s brother GOT HIT BY A CAR everyone around me acted like they didn’t care. All of the explanations where not true, but for my friend they were. I haven’t seen them for a very long time so I’m not sure why I dreamed of them.

  23. Terri Duncan

    A friend of mine had a very detailed dream of his son having a car accident and dying. His wife, other son and the don who died in the dream all had the exact same dream. All with the same details. Any idea if this could be prophetic or it’s meaning?

  24. Joy

    I had the se dream today that i had the fay before yesterday Both dreams my mother dies. i don’t know what that means but im pretty scared

  25. Deadman

    I know that person who’ve died and I am going to start my work. I think will that affect in my work?,

  26. Steven Gerrard

    I had a dream where one of my favorite kpop idols died and i was sad there whole group was crying but when i went out of the room where they were in i saw my friend eating rice with her mum in a wedding dress this all happened in my great grandpa’s house

  27. Marleigh

    I had a crazy dream last night! There was this man idk him but my father tried to kill him so ha came after the whole Family no one in my family died tho. I fell in love with him and tried to help him but once my family found him my little brother that I don’t even had tried to kill him they tied him up and he shot him in the leg then my dad (keep in mind this family i don’t know any of em) so then my so called dad shot him in the head and I woke up balling. Please explain this!

  28. Ariel

    I dreamed of 3persons died. First my friends’s ex husband. While attending the wake suddenly this person whom died changed to another friend’s boyfriend. Both of this man betrayed my friends. And last , another new coffin brought in and to my surprised it was my x boyfriend whom I love very much but left me.

  29. Cletis A Miller

    Every single night for the last two weeks I have been dreaming of beating someone up very badly then this dream which I just woke up from became a bloody horror.

    I feel like these dreams are predicting my future.
    I’m quite scared that these dreams are going to become real,(or the other way around).

  30. Cletis A Miller

    Also i’m a very noodle armed 15 year old kid.

  31. Gg

    Most nights I have dreams about my mum n brother in a car crash and me gettin my mates to get my mum out the car whilst it’s burning and I’m tryna get my brother out but hes stuck I finally get him out. But everytime I wake up I always have that in my head. I don’t live with my mum or brother or dad. I talk to my mum but most of the time we argue. Our relationship is a bit weird. What does this mean? I really don’t understand my messed up dreams

  32. Phai

    Last night and I know that this going to sound weird but,I dreamed that I had googled Jared Leto,and there was a news’ story that read “Actor Jared Leto was found dead in his LA home” what freaked me out the most is the fact that there was a date 2024,I don’t know why the hell I would be dreaming of something like this,because I love Jared Leto and I don’t want him to die.

  33. ya mom

    i had a dream of when my mom died infront of me when i was 4 and now im 15 and she said “HE WILL TRY TO HURT U AND UR SISTER”.

  34. Veronica

    My cousin has dream of me dead, but than apparently everyone was blaming her that it is her fault when I died. And the next morning she has to give me a call just to check up on me if I was fine. Please help, what could be the meaning?

  35. Chlo-chlo

    I have had two dreams recently, one of my boyfriend moving away and the other of my Grandma dying. After both I woke up feeling suicidal and with no purpose as if I rely on them for happiness. I texted my bf straight away to see if he was alive which is odd because part of me knew that it was just a dream. I am not allowed to have a boyfriend so there is some sort of restriction between us. I can’t contact my Grandma easily as she lives a long way away and refuses to get an iPhone. I think it is a symbol of not knowing whether that person is ok as I have restricted contact to both of these people. 🙁

  36. Quengie

    I had dream that i was a prostitute in my previous life. I even remember the name until i woke up, but for some reason i got scared and intentionally tried to forget it as days passed. 7yrs ago i dreamt seeing someone that exactly look like me in my bathroom smiling back at me.

  37. Shantell

    I had a dream last night of someone I was once in love with dying and I was so hurt in my dreams months went by and anything that reminds me of him I would get weak and start crying. What could that mean?

  38. Tarisai

    ok, so I am a big marvel fan and I have a complex family life and I am thalassophobic (fear of ocean). so it started off as me and my family going to this small island, I dunno why, and I had to swim so quickly, bcs even in my dream I was scared of the ocean. so we got there and had fun for ages, I live in a dominant muslim country so I was with my friends too, who were either black or muslim (I think this is bcs I feel sad about what going on). and I am black and have a black family. so we had this boat to go back, and there were these other girls, I knew them, one girl I thought I liked but clearly not, one girl who I wasn’t very fond on and I cant remember the other, but I knew them. they killed my family and friends and threw them in the ocean, the place I most fear. then they tried to kill me and I fell back, looking at the shapes of the people I love go, I tried to save them but I couldn’t, I was going to accept that I was going and I could feel it, but I swam back up and kept it lowkey. I swam back with a friend who had survived. once we got home we hid bcs the girls who killed my family were there, but I ran out, with my mate to the next door neighbors to cry for help, they did try everything but I remember this so vividly, ppl I knew o didn’t know walked by the window, and they were past relatioships. I walked out and saw all the marvel characters as well, but I wasn’t happy, I was sad, I could see dead ppl but I couldn’t tell them apart from alive, tony stark was there, spidey was there and I remember I saw chris evans walk by the opposite direction and I came up to him and said “are you alive or….?” but he just walked away mumbling to his self. I walked around and, I aw the iron spider suite, (spidey is my fav avenger so I think its bcs I look at my brother as such an amazing person), I could tell my brother was in there, but I watched him die earlier, I started running to him and I put my hands in his, he just kept walking whilst I kept up trying to get his attention “please, talk to me!” I shouted, I noticed everyone was walking in the same direction, I could never tell you where but there were loads of ppl, marvel characters, ppl I knew, ppl I didn’t and dead souls. I kept screaming for my brother and I saw my sisters and I tried to get their attention, but everyone was in some kind of trans, they couldn’t hear me, they were crying tho, like my sister was holding my other sisters hand and they were crying, I looked around but I couldn’t find my mother. one thing I noticed is my father didn’t die in the dream, he wasn’t there. but I think I know why, my parents got divorced and its so complex, he rly wants to see him and I want to see him but yeah so that’s probs why. and I woke up, looking around my room and I jumped out of bed, at like 10 something and rushed to my sisters room to wake her up. bcs I was scred they were actually gone. what can you tell me about that?

  39. Tarisai

    one thing tht happens regularly is I have bad dreams and they stay for weeks

  40. Tresa

    I have been having bad dreams about my birth father dying every night when I go to sleep. It’s a terrible feeling. Were very close and dreaming about him dying every night drives me crazy. I always wake up crying, shaking and can barely breathe. Having this nightmare everyday make me worry a lot and makes me think suicidal :/

  41. someone

    Today i had a dream, i got to see my ex that I am still in love with dying, and he dead, but then something happened and he lived again. I have no idea what does this mean

Leave a Reply