bedfellow
noun
bed·fel·low
ˈbed-ˌfe-(ˌ)lō 
1
: one who shares a bed with another
2
: a person or thing closely associated with another : ally
political bedfellows
—often used in the phrase strange bedfellows to describe an unlikely alliance of people or thingsPolitics indeed makes strange bedfellows and on the issue of local regulation of pesticides, environmental and states' rights advocates have joined forces.—
Elena S. Rutrick
Elena S. RutrickPolities and good architecture are strange bedfellows, but in Barcelona the marriage has worked.—Cathleen McGuigan
Cathleen McGuiganExamples of bedfellow in a Sentence
a child-welfare cause that has made bedfellows of activists who are normally on opposite ends of the political spectrum
Recent Examples on the Web
Free speech makes for strange bedfellows Comstock’s censorship campaign, though self-defeating in the long run, nonetheless caused enormous suffering, just as many people today are suffering from calls to fire and harass those whose viewpoints are legal, but disliked by the Trump administration.
—Amy Werbel, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025
But Anderson knows that, amid clashing political extremes, racial and ideological purists can make surprising, and treacherous, bedfellows.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Farmer livelihood at risk of 'withering away' Hoosier farmers and Chinese importers may make for strange bedfellows, but the simple mechanics of supply and demand have the two entangled financially.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 26 Sep. 2025
More importantly, the film shows how extreme ideologies create strange bedfellows, which Baranov uses to his advantage, funding underground biker militias and esoteric religious headbangers alike as ballast to prop up Putin’s hardline rule.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2025
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Amy Werbel, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025
But Anderson knows that, amid clashing political extremes, racial and ideological purists can make surprising, and treacherous, bedfellows.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Farmer livelihood at risk of 'withering away' Hoosier farmers and Chinese importers may make for strange bedfellows, but the simple mechanics of supply and demand have the two entangled financially.
—Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 26 Sep. 2025
More importantly, the film shows how extreme ideologies create strange bedfellows, which Baranov uses to his advantage, funding underground biker militias and esoteric religious headbangers alike as ballast to prop up Putin’s hardline rule.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bedfellow
Cite this Entry
“Bedfellow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bedfellow. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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bedfellow
noun
bed·fel·low
ˈbed-ˌfel-ō
: one who shares a bed with another
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