A dream about stealing is something you’d probably take very personally, just the way you would if this happened to you in waking life.
The action of someone stealing from you feels like an attack on you and everything you’ve worked for, and the outrage can be just as real as it would be in waking life.
You might be irrationally angry for the rest of the day after a dream like this, showing you just how powerful a dream like this can be.
But what does a dream of stealing or someone being a thief mean? Read on to find out.
What Does Stealing Mean In A Dream?
Dreams involving stealing or someone becoming a thief points to losing something important to you in waking life, something that is probably connected to your identity or your opinion of yourself.
If you base your sense of self-worth on how productive you are, for example, this dream may reflect waking life where a business deal has gone sour, or you weren’t able to get the results that you wanted.
Consider the stolen object in your dream, as this can completely change the meaning. Money being stolen implies that you feel you’re being taken for granted, or you’re being manipulated.
Dreaming of your car being stolen (see also article titled ‘What Does It Mean To Dream Of A Stolen Car?‘) implies that you are no longer in the ‘driver’s seat’ in your life. Someone else is making your decisions for you.
But what about dreams where you are the thief? A dream of stealing something reveals that you have unmet needs or ignored desires, and this is creating some uncertainty or discord in your life.
Whatever you’re lacking, it’s important enough to carry over into your dreams, and this is your subconscious telling you that something needs to be done.
A dream like this can also point to a vulnerability in your psyche or forgotten goals that you wish you’d taken up. Maybe it’s time to start them again.
If you’re stealing different objects in the same dream, this implies that your job has some security.
A dream where you steal from a bank or someone is not rare, but not many people like to admit to them! Most dreams of stealing point to complications and misfortune soon, so make sure you are on your guard.
Dreaming of stealing something and getting caught warns of failing something in waking life, or making a mistake that you’ll come to regret later.
This might be a project in work that carries a lot of pressure, a time-sensitive goal you’ve set yourself, or a breakdown in a relationship.
Dreaming of catching a thief reflects positive things in waking life, where your vigilance will mean that you’ll stop someone from manipulating you in waking life.
A thief robbing something from your car or house in your dream is a warning that you’re not standing up for yourself enough in waking life.
Common Dreams Of Stealing And Their Symbolism
Dreaming Of Shoplifting
Shoplifting in your dreams is an interesting image and relates to your privacy and feelings of security in waking life.
Dreaming of shoplifting something yourself implies that you base your self-worth on achieving your high expectations, and failure is a huge knock to your confidence.
The thief dream symbol is naturally associated with wanting to hide from something or someone in waking life. You might feel that everything you do is being judged unfairly, or people have too many opinions about things that are really your own business and not theirs.
If you dream of someone mugging you, this relates to a loss of security or certainty in waking life, where you feel attacked or vulnerable.
Dreaming Of Someone Stealing From You
There are several interpretations of a dream where someone steals from you.
First off, a dream of stealing suggests that you’re about to run into several problems in your waking life, or someone will make your hard work worthless. Maybe they’ll claim it’s theirs instead of yours, mirroring the theft in your dream.
Dreams like this are associated with outrage and unfairness. Maybe you feel you work hard and get nowhere, while someone else seems to get everything handed to them without putting any effort in at all.
Alternatively, dreaming of a thief stealing from you suggests a shift in your perspective or goals. Something in waking life will impact you negatively, making you question your beliefs and priorities.
Maybe a long-held dream won’t turn out the way you hope it might, or you’ll get everything you want, and find that it’s not actually what you want at all.
A Dream Where Someone Steals Your Money
Dreaming of someone stealing money from you reflects negativity in waking life, caused by someone else. Someone has damaged your trust in people, or how you believe in this individual.
Dreaming of being in the middle of buying something and your money gets stolen is an interesting one. It implies that you’re overspending or you’re not considering the full implications of a financial investment or decision. Consider your options carefully.
A dream where you have money (see also article titled ‘What Does It Mean To Dream Of Money?‘) stolen implies that you need to take a good look at your finances. Maybe there’s something you’re spending on that you don’t need, or you’re not planning for emergencies or the future in general in the way you should.
Dreaming of stealing someone else’s money (see also article titled ‘What Does It Mean To Dream Of Finding Money?‘) implies that you’re making some risky decisions, or you’re not considering the full implications of doing something. Maybe you’re at risk of hurting someone you love.
Dreaming Of Someone Stealing Your Bag
Someone stealing your bag in your dream implies that you have an important choice to make, but you’re equally torn between two decisions. Your dream recognizes the enormity of choosing wisely, so it may be time to seek other people’s opinions before you make your choice.
A Dream Where Someone Steals Your Purse
Dreaming of someone stealing your purse points to a loss of purpose, or something you feel is part of your identity. After all, purses and wallets carry our IDs, and things that we’d struggle to go without in waking life.
It implies discord in your own identity, where you will question what you base this identity on, whether that’s a hobby, goal, or how you treat others. A situation in waking life will cause you to question where your life is going, and exactly what you want from it.
Someone Stealing Your Groceries In A Dream
A dream where someone steals your groceries is a positive sign, believe it or not.
Dreams involving prosperity of any kind suggest that there will be new opportunities, but you must be careful which ones you decide on, and what impact they may have on your life.
Dreaming Of Someone Stealing Your Watch
Dreaming of someone stealing your watch mirrors anxiety about how much time you have. You may feel that you have too little, and you struggle to squeeze everything in that you need to do.
More than likely this feeling of a ticking clock will keep you constantly on edge, where you might explode at other people without meaning to. This dream warns you not to act impulsively, and don’t give in to frustration.
It may be that you need to consider your priorities and drop something, for now, to get something boxed off and finished, leaving you with less to deal with later.
Maybe you have a fear of wasting time. You might feel the need to always be on the go, but this might be a way of distracting yourself from bigger worries.
Perhaps you don’t feel good enough if you’re not constantly doing something, or you’re using it as a way of avoiding things that need your attention.
It could be that fear like this has completely taken over your life and how you make your decisions, creating a horrible cycle of anxious thoughts where you might not make the right choices, or you can’t see good opportunities right in front of you.
Or, maybe you have too much time on your hands and you don’t know what to do with it. This creates restlessness and a lack of direction that might gnaw at you.
If the watch in your dream feels very important, or it’s one you’re very attached to in waking life, this dream implies that a new chance or circumstances will bring forward a new dream or chapter of your life. Your life might change completely.
Dreaming of stealing watches is a bad sign, reflecting misfortune and complications in waking life. Someone will tell you that they don’t trust you, fracturing your relationship, or your image will be damaged in some way.
Dreaming Of Someone Stealing Your Gold
A dream where someone steals gold from you is a positive sign, which sounds odd! Gold in dreams is linked to prosperity and abundance.
Dreaming of owning gold implies an improvement in your financial health, and how you’re capable of achieving any dream you set out towards. If you’ve been dreaming of something for a while, why not try putting your plans into action?
You may be surprised at how far your ambition can take you.
It may also suggest that you should work towards your goals before the time to do so is ‘stolen’ from you.
Dreaming of a bank robbery where your gold is stolen implies that a long-held dream or hobby you love will embarrass you in some way. This might be due to how you might claim to know everything about something, and circumstances or other people will prove you wrong.
You might have a lot more to learn than you think.
Someone Stealing A Book In Your Dream
In dreams, books symbolize the freedom to choose your path, as well as knowledge, wisdom, and experience.
A dream where someone steals a book from you suggests that they’re not telling you the truth, or you’re missing a vital clue that they are holding onto.
Alternatively, a dream where someone steals your book implies that someone will come to you for your advice, but they are unlikely to take it, causing some frustration.
A dream of a stolen book implies that you should expect some news, but be careful of where it comes from, and make sure you know it’s something true, rather than gossip or hearsay.
If you dream of stealing books, this reflects how you’ll discover an important piece of information, but you won’t get it through ethical means. This dream warns you to be careful of what you do with this information.
A Dream Where Your Parents Steal From You
Dreaming of your parents stealing from you points to a rift in your family. This may come about as a miscommunication, or how your life differs from what they want for you.
Maybe you have different opinions on what your life should be like, and neither of you will agree.
Or, you might feel invisible or they always expect you to do certain things for them, which you’re not willing to give them any longer.
A dream where your father steals from you reveals a discord in your relationship with someone, where they have hurt you deeply. This may have been by accident, or on purpose.
A dream where your mother steals from you implies that an emotional situation that hurt you in the past is repeating itself in the present. Or, you have deep emotional scars which you’ve never managed to heal.
Your Partner Stealing From You In A Dream
What a horrible dream. Dreaming that your partner steals from you points to betrayal, shock, outrage, and frustration.
Maybe your partner hasn’t backed you in a conflict that’s important to you, and you’re still wondering why they didn’t support you.
A dream like this reveals a lot of frustration building up in your relationship. It might be that they don’t respect your choices or your opinions, or they haven’t considered how their choices affect you emotionally.
Whatever the problem might be, your trust in them has been damaged, and you are hurt. Your subconscious might be urging you to be honest with your partner.
Let them explain why they’ve done what they have, as it’s through understanding that this problem will either go away or your relationship will come to an end.
Alternatively, this dream might simply be playing out your anxiety about your partner or someone equally close to you betraying you. It’s worth exploring why you might not trust them fully.
Your Children Stealing From You In A Dream
A dream where your children steal from you indicates that they are on your mind, and you’re worried about what choices they might make.
You know all too well that desperate situations can lead to dumb mistakes, and you want them to have a good life where these situations are as rare as possible.
This dream demonstrates your hope that they will always make the right choices for them. Your subconscious might throw you into a dream like this when it’s time to reach out to your children and check how they’re doing.
Maybe it’s been too long since you’ve had a deep connection with them, and your subconscious is telling you that you miss them.
Someone Stealing Your Job In A Dream
A dream where someone steals your job is an alarm bell. It reveals uncertainty in waking life, specifically in your work life. Perhaps you’ve been given a new project to manage, and you’re not sure how it will turn out, as you feel you don’t have enough experience.
Maybe you want to ask for a pay rise that reflects the work you do and your responsibilities, but you don’t want anything bad to come of it.
A dream like this can signify that something is threatening your work life. Maybe you are tired, and if you don’t take a break soon, your performance will suffer.
Perhaps someone else isn’t pulling their weight, and you’re worried this will come back to you, even though their work ethic shouldn’t reflect on your performance.
Such a dream can also imply that someone means you harm, or that they want to discredit you in your workplace. Maybe they do want the job you have, but they’ll have to try and take it from you first.
Or, a dream like this can be a reflection of the negativity in your workplace. Maybe you don’t like your coworkers at all, or they’re making your work more difficult than it needs to be.
This dream might be urging you to explore ways in which you can make it easier, or how you can make sure their work is not a bad reflection of yours.
Whatever this dream might mean to you, take it as a word of warning, and don’t give anyone anything they can use to discredit you or harm your career.
It might be tempting to sink to their level, but you can find a better way of not getting involved while disrupting their dodgy plans if you look hard enough.
If you feel you’re in a great place in your work life, this dream implies that something will change for you. You might get a raise or a promotion, or maybe you’ll decide that it’s time you moved on and took your skill set elsewhere.
If you dream of having an entirely different job to the one you have in your waking life, this implies that you’ll soon be recognized for your hard work and creativity.
Watching Someone Steal Your Partner In A Dream
This dream is more common than you might think. You might even wake up from this dream suspicious of your partner! Unsurprisingly, this dream reflects that you’re worried about losing your partner to someone else.
Maybe this has happened to you in the past and you’re scared history will repeat itself. Or, you love where you and your partner are in your relationship, and you think things are perfect the way they are.
You might expect that someone or something will come along to ruin this, pointing to how much you value this connection or your insecurities about losing them.
Alternatively, dreaming of someone stealing your partner can happen when you’ve told them something about yourself that you’re worried about may break your relationship apart. You’re not sure what they will do.
Spiritual Meaning Behind Stealing Food In A Dream
Dreaming of stealing food suggests you lack something important in waking life. Maybe you’re leaving a need unmet for one reason or another, or you feel a lack of purpose or connection in waking life.
It might be that you feel distracted or disconnected from waking life in general, or you feel other people’s opinions or emotions don’t matter. This points to a potential burnout, where you’re focused on your worries and insecurities, and you can’t see things objectively.
In this case, a change of scenery or pace of life might do you good, allowing you to regain a more objective perspective where you can start to reorganize your priorities, and figure out what you need.
It can outline that you feel something will go away by itself, or a situation will magically go away.
This dream calls on you to recognize what you’re ignoring or what’s missing from your life, and how you might adjust things to get it.
Maybe you need a break from your lifestyle, or it’s time to try something entirely different.
Stealing From Your Parents In A Dream
If you stole something from your parents when you were a child, this could be your past regrets surfacing or your subconscious replaying your experiences.
Dreaming of stealing from both of your parents suggests that you’re not being honest with them because you know they won’t like what you have to say.
A dream of stealing from your parents can reveal a problem they don’t want you to know about.
Or, a dream of stealing from your parents implies that someone will be the source of all your problems soon. More than likely, this will be someone close enough to have a great impact on your life, such as your family, partner, or even your boss at work.
A dream like this can be a call to be honest with someone, to stop any miscommunication before it can start.
Stealing A Bag In Your Dream
A dream of stealing a bag signifies your hopes and worries which you carry around with you. If the bag splits, this implies that you are being affected by a lot of negativity or a loss of purpose.
Struggling to carry a bag you’ve stolen in a dream reveals how you’re spending all of your time worrying about things that may never happen.
You might blind yourself to a failing relationship or a great opportunity by not focusing on what’s going on around you.
The Spiritual Message Behind A Dream Of Stealing Money Or Gold
This dream’s message is to drop dragging your fears around. Sift through them one by one, and let go of those that don’t need your attention.
A dream where you steal money or gold can represent the ‘wealth’ in your life, whatever that means to you. This may be something material like your possessions or your money, but it can also refer to important people, places, your health, or memories.
Wealth in a dream can suggest you’re not taking your successes as seriously as your failures. Look at what you’ve achieved, and recognize the potential you have.
The Spiritual Meaning Of Dreaming Of Stealing Books
Spiritually speaking, a dream of stealing books implies that you’ve missed an important lesson that an experience did try to teach you. If you don’t learn from your experiences, you’re likely to make similar blunders in the future.
Dreaming of stealing many books suggests that you don’t have the experience or knowledge to complete a goal. Dreams like this directly point to where you’re going wrong in waking life, which can be both useful and frustrating.
Final Thoughts
Dreams of stealing things, or things being stolen from you can be confusing, but they can also be incredibly helpful.
Some demonstrate insecurities that you should move past, while others prepare you for potential problems or arguments in the future. After a dream like this, you may feel better prepared to deal with any issues that come your way.