Synonyms of copulate

copulate

verb

ˈkä-pyə-ˌlāt 

as in to sleep

to engage in sexual intercourse

the time of year when deer in the wild are likely to copulate

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sleep
• mate
• breed
• do it
• have sex
• fornicate
• fool around

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of copulate

These guppies also attempted to sneakily copulate with the females more often. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 10 July 2025

And finally, wouldn’t being near-perfectly still for an hour make a pair of copulating octopuses ridiculously exposed to predators? — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 2 Apr. 2026

In November 1995, Funston took a 5-year-old boy into some bushes, pulled down his pants and orally copulated him, prosecutors said. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026

In Second Nature, scientists theorize that Darwin couldn’t help but impose his own heterosexual ideations on animal reproduction, mainly that animals only copulate for the purposes of reproduction, with males being the aggressors and females fluttering their eyelids behind lace fans, or something. — Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2026