celibate

Definition of celibatenext
as in chaste
not engaging in sexual intercourse celibate monks and nuns They have chosen to lead celibate lives.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of celibate The former Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star, who was a member of the boy band B2K before going solo in 2005, is no longer celibate, and is a father to son Megaa, 11, and daughter A’mei, 9, with ex-girlfriend Apryl Jones. Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 18 Nov. 2025 While the audience was instantly compelled by her newscaster cadence, pearl clutching, and disastrous, celibate relationship, her fellow Housewives thought it was all put on for the cameras. Tom Smyth, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2025 And celibacy, as Christ was celibate. Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025 For many traditionalists, effective enforcement of this teaching would mean cracking down on homosexuality among the clergy, including gay clergy who are celibate and chaste. Massimo Faggioli, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2018 See All Example Sentences for celibate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for celibate
Adjective
  • The best time to prune chaste tree is in late winter.
    Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Chihiro and Hiruhiko were engaging in the sort of passionate but chaste dude-bro melodrama that takes place only in shōnen manga.
    Matt Alt, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Some people want to remain abstinent to focus on their own personal growth, while others have resorted to it after becoming frustrated with today's dating culture.
    Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Ivan Neville has been on a few times and always talks being abstinent.
    Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Goodee has one of the best stocks of artisan-made, one-of-a-kind homewares that don’t require a cross-continent trip to collect.
    Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 30 Nov. 2025
  • In addition to routes that go into the suburbs around the city, the cross-continent metro line known as the Marmaray connects the metro systems on both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
    Katie Nadworny, Travel + Leisure, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • So yes, Mary might have remained unmarried without George.
    Margaret Heidenry, Vanity Fair, 24 Dec. 2025
  • But Jo, the aspiring writer, is at the center of the narrative, as the sister trying to imagine a life outside of what is expected of her as a young, unmarried woman.
    Lauryn Higgins, Parents, 22 Dec. 2025
Adjective
  • Someone with the virginal purity of a political outsider and the intrinsic capability of an insider who’s spent decades cutting deals and keeping the government wheels spinning.
    Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Someone with the virginal purity of a political outsider and the intrinsic capability of an insider who’s spent decades cutting deals and keeping the government wheels spinning.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Mangione has pleaded innocent to federal and state murder charges; the state charges carry the possibility of life in prison.
    MICHAEL R. SISAK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Several right-wing social media figures and conservative commentators have also shared the video and suggested that Pretti was not an innocent bystander, but rather someone who was deliberately seeking confrontation.
    Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • And, there is even some emerging clinical-trial evidence that extra virgin olive oil can improve bowel movement frequency and constipation.
    Beatrice Zocchi, Vogue, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The plant uses cranes to move whole trees, suggesting a reliance on raw, virgin wood and not waste wood.
    Ken Silverstein, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Celibate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/celibate. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

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