celibate

1 of 2

adjective

cel·​i·​bate ˈse-lə-bət 

: of, relating to, or characterized by celibacy:

a

: not engaging in or characterized by sexual intercourse

leading a celibate life

Because he regarded sex outside marriage as sinful, he remained celibate all his life.

—Faith McNulty

He pursued her avidly, writing her as many as three letters a day and even offering a celibate marriage to appease her fear of sex.

—Ruth Franklin

I'd been celibate for so long, what was another year without sex?

—Sue Grafton

b

: abstaining from marriage and sex especially because of a religious vow

Father Hawkins, for one, believes the priesthood would benefit from a broader mix of married and celibate priests.

—Daniel McGinn

I have met a few celibate monks in whom celibacy is truly a gift, a charism from which all—married or not—can learn …

—John Garvey

The Shakers, a celibate religious community, stress pacifism, equality and the communal ownership of material goods.

—Lyn Riddle

celibate

2 of 2

noun

plural celibates

: a person who lives in celibacy : a celibate person:

a

: an unmarried person

especially : one who abstains from marriage because of a religious vow

priestly celibates

b

: a person who abstains from sexual intercourse

… described himself as "a reluctant celibate" who had not been with a woman for four years …

—Janice Kennedy

Examples of celibate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The couple — who is not married and had previously vowed to stay celibate out of respect of Mary’s grandparents — broke tradition by trying for a baby. —Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 19 Sep. 2023

That's a weird question because first of all, there have always been people who are polygamous, and there have always been people who were celibate or asexual. —Gideon Lichfield, WIRED, 23 Aug. 2023

Advertisement Nelson had never expected Winnie to remain celibate during his 27-year imprisonment. —Glenn Frankel, Washington Post, 9 June 2023

Before ordination, there is the choice to marry or to be celibate. —Landon Mion, Fox News, 14 Mar. 2023

Grandparents with a monk son also had more grandchildren, as their non-celibate sons faced less or no competition with their brothers. —Ruth MacE and Alberto Micheletti, Ars Technica, 5 Sep. 2022

But the vast majority of the world’s more than 400,000 Catholic priests are celibate. —Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022

Catholic doctrine reserves the priesthood for men, and church tradition requires Latin rite priests to be celibate. —Washington Post, 4 June 2020

Noun

Many of Garcia's posts were also misogynistic, railing against women and parroting language used in incel, or involuntary celibate, communicates. —Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 8 May 2023

But Joe was committed to remaining celibate from his murderous tendencies, leaving his violent ways behind with his life in America. —Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2023

So incel means… involuntary celibate? —Ellise Shafer, Variety, 12 Dec. 2022

Experts from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) have told Refinery29 that the misogynist incel (short for involuntary celibate) movement is spreading and has been exacerbated by the pandemic. —Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, 8 Nov. 2021

Incel is short for involuntary celibate. —CBS News, 18 Sep. 2021

Ex-members claim that Amy and Castillo would control their food intake and sleep schedule, and most members were expected to live celibate lives free of romantic relationships. —Christopher Moyer, Rolling Stone, 26 Nov. 2021

But this ostensibly confirmed celibate oozes a gentle, undeniable sensuality. —Ben Brantley, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2016

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Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Latin caeleb-, caelebs "not having a spouse, unmarried" (perhaps a derivative from *kail-i- "whole," going back to Indo-European *keh₂i-lo-) + -ate entry 3 — more at whole entry 1

Note: The traditional hypothesis that caelebs goes back to a compound *kai̯elo-libh- (with the first element compared to Sanskrit kevala- "exclusively oneʼs own, alone, whole" and the second to Gothic liban "to live," English live entry 1) is now considered dubious.

Noun

derivative of celibate entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1724, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1769, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

celibate

noun

cel·​i·​bate ˈsel-ə-bət 

: one who lives in celibacy

celibate adjective