Choose a language

Hair in dreams: what it can mean

  • Body
  • Change

DraftAn editor has not reviewed this page yet.

The short answer

Hair dreams often concern appearance, identity and change: a new haircut can feel like a new start, while hair falling out often joins teeth dreams as an image of loss or worry about ageing.

Your dream is not everyone's

Tell it the way you remember it. You get a reading about your dream and your life, not a dictionary entry.

Your text stays in this browser until you send it.

Three ways to read it

Psychology and research

Research

Hair is part of how we present ourselves, so the continuity view connects hair dreams with self-image and how others see you. Cutting hair is often experienced as a decision or a clean break; losing hair, like losing teeth, often comes with worries about health, age or losing control. Stress can also affect real hair, which can make the dream feel literal.

Classic texts

History

Artemidorus discussed hair among the parts of the body: well-kept hair was generally read favourably and losing it as a loss, with the reading adjusted for the dreamer's sex, age and work.

Questions to ask yourself

  1. Was the change to your hair chosen or did it happen to you?
  2. How do you feel about the way others see you right now?
  3. What would a fresh start look like for you?

Related symbols

Sources

Every reading on this page comes from these works. Page references have not all been checked yet; those still waiting are marked.

  1. G. William Domhoff (2001). A New Neurocognitive Theory of Dreams. Dreaming 11(1): 13-33.

    cited, not reproduced

    • Cited at: pp. 13-33 (dreams as simulations of personal concerns) (reference not yet checked)

    Dreams as embodied simulations of personal concerns (the continuity view). The backbone of our psychology lens.

  2. Tore A. Nielsen, Antonio L. Zadra, Valérie Simard, Sébastien Saucier, Philippe Stenstrom, Carlyle Smith, Don Kuiken (2003). The typical dreams of Canadian university students. Dreaming 13(4): 211-235.

    cited, not reproduced

    • Cited at: typical dreams questionnaire, results (reference not yet checked)

    Survey of how many people report having had common dream themes (being chased, falling, teeth, flying, exams, nakedness and others) at least once.

  3. Artemidorus of Daldis (1644). The Interpretation of Dreams (Oneirocritica), in five books, translated by Robert Wood. London.

    first published 2nd century CE

    public domain

    • Cited at: Book I, on hair (reference not yet checked)

    Greek dream manual from the Roman era. We paraphrase the public-domain Wood translation (1644). Modern translations (White 1975, Harris-McCoy 2012, Hammond 2020) are copyrighted and only cited.