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 things

Politics indeed makes strange bedfellows and on the issue of local regulation of pesticides, environmental and states' rights advocates have joined forces.

—Elena S. Rutrick

Polities and good architecture are strange bedfellows, but in Barcelona the marriage has worked.

—Cathleen McGuigan

Synonyms of bedfellow

• supporter
• ally

Examples 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

Now, those advocates count the city’s last major professional sports franchise — whose messy divorce with Oakland helped tank owner John Fisher’s reputation among residents — as an unusual bedfellow. —Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2026

Once a niche cause for environmental advocacy groups, the task has won support from many strange bedfellows, including Republican state lawmakers. —Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 8 Mar. 2026

The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in an important gun case that has united an array of strange bedfellows, from conservative gun rights groups to liberal civil liberties groups. —Nina Totenberg, NPR, 2 Mar. 2026

These two worlds may seem like strange bedfellows—what does a luxury hotel in Switzerland’s Engadine valley have to do with the king of the 1980s downtown New York art scene? —Laura May Todd, Vogue, 25 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bedfellow

• marshmallow
• morello
• othello
• schoolfellow
• cello
• fellow
• jello
• mellow
• melo
• velo
• portobello
• violoncello

Kids Definition

bedfellow

noun

bed·​fel·​low ˈbed-ˌfel-ō 

: one who shares a bed with another