carry a torch

verb

To love or to be romantically infatuated with, especially when such feelings are not reciprocated.

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Meanings

verbcarry a torch (third-person singular simple present carries a torch, present participle carrying a torch, simple past and past participle carried a torch)

present singular third person carries a torch · participle present carrying a torch · participle past carried a torch · past carried a torch · alternative carry the torch

  1. idiomaticTo love or to be romantically infatuated with, especially when such feelings are not reciprocated.

    Lachey, for his part, seems to still carry a torch for his estranged wife.

    2006 April 20, Jeannette Walls, “Are Simpson and Lachey still in love?”, in msnbc.com, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2006
    2 more examples

    Someday, I know that Jim will up and leave me / But even if he does you can believe me / I'll go on carryin' the torch for Jim / I'll go on lovin' my Jim

    1941, “Jim”, Nelson Shawn (lyrics), James Caesar Petrillo and Edward Ross (music)

    Brunhilde, a kind of earth-mother goddess, carries a torch for her lost love.

    1955 June 6, “Books: Mixed Fiction (review of The Twelve Pictures by Edith Simon)”, in Time, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2013

Origin

From the metaphor of a burning flame, to keep a fire burning. The association of a torch with love may date to the Greek and Roman tradition of a wedding torch, lit in the bride’s hearth on her wedding night, then used to light the hearth in her new home. Such a torch is associated with the Greek god of marriage Hymenaios.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

carry a torch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carry%20a%20torch

MLA

“carry a torch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carry%20a%20torch. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carry a torch,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carry%20a%20torch.

Source: carry a torch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.