phrase General Slang

Carry A Torch

/ˌkær.i ə ˈtɔːrtʃ/ · phrase · informal

To pine for someone who doesn't love you back, your flame still burning alone.

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Definitions

1

To nurse a lingering, often hopeless devotion to a person who has moved on.

“Years later she was still carrying a torch for him.”
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2

To remain in love with someone, especially unrequitedly, long after the romance has cooled.

“He still carries a torch for his college sweetheart.”
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3

By extension, to keep alive a loyalty or longing for something lost.

“The old fans still carry a torch for the team that left town.”
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Carry A Torch In A Sentence

Everyone could see she was carrying a torch for the bandleader.
Stop carrying a torch and ask someone new to dance.
He carried a torch for her right up until the wedding, hers, not his.

Origin & Usage

1920s American romantic slang; the image is of holding a lit torch for an absent love. It gave rise to the 'torch song', the mournful ballad of unrequited love that flourished in the Jazz Age and is documented in period entertainment writing.

Variants torchcarrying a torch
Tags #1920s#flapper#jazz-age#vintage#romance

People Also Ask

What does carry a torch mean?

It means to stay in love with someone, usually someone who doesn't return the feeling.

Where does carry a torch come from?

It is 1920s slang picturing a person keeping a flame lit for an absent love, and it inspired the term 'torch song'.

What is a torch song?

A sad, slow ballad about unrequited or lost love, named directly from the phrase 'carry a torch'.

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