For many of us, dreaming about your partner cheating is a nightmare. It can feel like you’re trapped in a recurring nightmare that leaves you feeling haunted and unsettled in the real world.
But what does it actually mean when you dream about your boyfriend or girlfriend cheating on you? In this article, there are several reasons why this might be happening.
14 Meanings When You Dream About Your Partner Cheating
1. Your partner is, in fact, cheating on you
You may have a gut feeling that your partner is cheating on you, but then again, you might not. Maybe you just want to believe it and so you do—or maybe you’re still looking for confirmation.
If the latter is the case, dreams can be a good way to get that confirmation. A dream of your partner cheating on you could be an indication that they actually are doing just that!
In addition to having dreams about your partner’s infidelity, there are other signs of their cheating behavior as well (or at least indicators of suspicion). A change in their behavior would be one possible indicator.
For example, if they suddenly start spending more time away from home or become secretive about plans with friends, these may point towards infidelity.
Another sign might include noticing how frequently they use their phone or social media account (and whether there are any telltale signs like frequent texting).
2. Your partner’s time or attention is elsewhere
When you dream of your partner cheating, it could mean that they are spending time with other people in the real world. It could also mean that they aren’t paying attention to you, and their mind is elsewhere.
If your partner has been spending all of his time at work lately, this could be a sign that he doesn’t want to be around you anymore. And if there’s one thing worse than a cheater, it’s a partner who is neglecting you.
3. You’re unhappy about your partner’s flirting
When you dream about your partner flirting with other people, it can mean that you’re unhappy about their attention and loyalty. It’s important to remember that while some dreams are literal, most are symbolic.
In this case, the meaning of your dream is not necessarily related to any actual cheating or flirtatious activity in real life. You may be worried about something else entirely—perhaps you’re worried about your partner’s feelings for you or their commitment to your relationship.
4. You’re insecure
You may be feeling insecure about your relationship if you dream about your partner cheating on you.
You may be afraid that you and your partner aren’t as close as you used to be, or that they don’t feel as strongly about you anymore. This can happen when we let our insecurities get the best of us and start worrying about things before they actually happen.
If you’re having dreams like this after a major change in your relationship, then it could be because your subconscious is trying to prepare you for the worst-case scenario. In other words, if something bad happens (like cheating), then it’s your subconscious’ way of preparing yourself for the worst.
5. You feel like you’re missing out
If you dream about your partner cheating on you, it’s likely that this is the case. It may not be the case in reality, but in your subconscious mind, it could be a reflection of a fear of missing out (FOMO) and/or insecurity.
FOMO can cause jealousy and paranoia—if someone says something nice about another person or mentions their accomplishments, we start to worry that they’ll leave us for someone else who seems to have more going for them than we do!
The simple solution here is to take a step back and realize how irrational these fears are.
When we feel insecure or jealous over anything our partners do or say, it’s usually because there’s some part of ourselves that feels left out or less desirable than others.
Those feelings don’t actually exist in reality though! We just project our own insecurities onto other people without realizing it.
6. You’re jealous of your partner’s ex
Your dream could be a reflection of your jealousy. You might be concerned that your partner will leave you for someone else, or that they’ll fall in love with someone prettier, more successful or younger than you.
If this is the case, it means that you may need to spend some time alone with your partner so that they know how much they mean to you and how much it would hurt if things ended badly between the two of you.
7. You want your partner to get on with someone close to you
You may dream about your partner cheating on you if you want your partner to get on better with someone close to you.
You might be jealous of the special relationship this person has with your partner, or perhaps you feel like they’re stealing time away from spending with you.
Either way, it’s important for both of you to make time for each other — and keep in mind that if your dreams are telling you otherwise, it’s probably not because cheating is a real possibility!
8. You fear abandonment
If this is your fear, you might be experiencing what’s called “fear of abandonment.” This is a very common fear in relationships and can be caused by a number of things.
For some people, they may have had an experience of someone abandoning them before (like their parents), which makes them afraid it will happen again to them.
Or they may have an insecurity about relationships—for example, believing that all relationships end badly or that there is no such thing as a happy relationship.
If this is how you’re feeling when dreaming about your partner cheating on you, it’s important to look at why you’re having these feelings in the first place. The best way to deal with fears like these is to talk them through with someone who knows how much they mean to you (such as a therapist).
If talking doesn’t help, then try doing things that make you feel good about yourself and your own capabilities (exercising regularly) or those that are relaxing for both body and mind (meditation).
9. It may be a reflection of your paranoia
You may be dreaming about infidelity because you have a history of paranoia. If you’ve been cheated on in the past, or if anyone in your family has ever been cheated on, then that could be another reason why this dream may be coming up for you.
Another possible cause for this dream is that you have a history of infidelity in your friends’ lives. In other words, when people around you are getting into relationships and breaking up, it can make some people feel anxious and uncomfortable.
10. You have past experiences of infidelity
If you’re having dreams that your partner is cheating on you, there’s a good chance that these dreams are more about the past than they are about the present. For example, if you’ve had previous relationships where infidelity was an issue, this could be affecting how you view your current relationship.
Deep down, it’s possible that you know nothing untoward is happening between him and his co-worker—but because of some bad experiences in the past, it can’t help but feel like something is up.
This isn’t to say that all dreams about cheating partners are rooted in projection; sometimes people really do have reason to suspect their spouses of being unfaithful (especially if they’re going through a tough time).
But whether or not someone has any cause for concern will depend on their own personal history with infidelity and what point in their life cycle they currently occupy.
If someone sees themselves as honest and trustworthy deep down but has never cheated before—and thus has no experience with what it feels like when someone else cheats on them—they may not even consider whether or not their partner would ever do such a thing until presented with strong evidence suggesting otherwise (or until they actually find out).
11. Your imagination may just be running wild
If you’re dreaming of your partner cheating on you, it could be a result of your subconscious anxieties.
Dreams are just a reflection of our subconscious thoughts and emotions. You might be worried about your partner’s actions, worried about your own actions or worrying about the state of the relationship itself.
It’s also possible that this may actually reflect a deeper issue in your life – such as health problems that are causing stress for both yourself and them (although it would probably be better to solve these rather than simply projecting them onto other people in your dreams!).
12. You feel betrayed in other areas of your life
You may be subconsciously feeling betrayed in other areas of your life.
You might be dreaming about cheating because you feel like a partner or friend has violated your trust, and it’s easier to deal with this betrayal by imagining them doing it to someone else. For example, your partner might have lied to you about something small that they thought wouldn’t matter.
Perhaps they forgot to tell you about an appointment or spending money on something new, even though they didn’t think it was worth mentioning. In either case, there may be other ways that this incident strikes a nerve for you—and all those feelings will come out in the dream.
13. You’re not happy in your relationship
When you dream about your partner cheating, it can be a sign that you’re not happy with them in other ways. You may feel that they are not being faithful or loyal to you, but this isn’t just a problem with their character—you may also be unhappy with how they treat you in real life.
You might feel unable to talk about the issues in your relationship and so dream up solutions for them instead of facing reality head-on. If this is the case, try talking more openly about what’s going on between the two of you—dreams can often give us clues about things we need to address!
14. You fear being happy and settling down
It’s possible that your subconscious is trying to warn you of something. Maybe you’re afraid of being happy, or settling down with your partner and losing them to someone else.
You may also be afraid of being vulnerable and letting down your guard in order to allow yourself to be happy with someone else.
Maybe there are other things going on in your life that cause this fear—losing a job or having money problems, for example—and they have nothing directly related to the dream itself but everything indirectly related due to stress levels.
Whatever the reason for this fear, it’s important for us as people who dream about our partners cheating on us (or whatever other scenario we find ourselves dreaming about) not to let these dreams control us negatively throughout our lives by making us fearful and anxious about our relationships.
Conclusion
If you dream about your partner cheating on you, it could mean that there is something going on in your life that needs to be addressed.
The key to understanding this type of dream is to look at the details of the dream and see what they represent.
It may be a reflection of something that happened in real life recently or it could simply be a representation of an insecurity or fear.