# carry a torch

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/carry-a-torch
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

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

## Examples

- He still carries a torch for his old high school sweetheart.
- Even though they broke up years ago, she secretly carries a torch for him and checks his social media daily.
- Despite his outward indifference and the passage of many years, he continued to carry a torch for her, nursing a quiet, unrequited devotion that defined his solitary life.

## Origin

Derived from the metaphor of a flame that must be kept burning. The association of a handheld torch with romantic devotion is traced to Greek and Roman traditions regarding the wedding torch. This implement was lit in the bride’s family hearth on her wedding night and carried to her new residence to light the fire in her new home, a transit intended to ensure the continuity of the domestic flame. Such a torch is the primary attribute of Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage. The deity is traditionally depicted attending weddings while brandishing the light, a role that fixed the connection between the burning object and the state of being constant in one's affections.

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