as in prostitute
a woman who engages in sexual activities for money
the protagonist of the novel is a composite of several real-life courtesans who plied their trade among the decadent aristocracy
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Recent Examples of courtesan
Later, Cellini is invited to a dinner and shows up with a young man dressed as a woman; the courtesan, his lover at the time, is also at the dinner, which leads to an enormously violent scene.
—
Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
Discovered in 1929 by the German astronomer Karl Reinmuth, it is named after the Spanish courtesan and dancer Carolina Otero.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Instead of being schooled as a courtesan, Alix has been shipped off to England in order to learn the skills required of a proper English wife.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Immerse yourself in the world of Violetta, a determined and famed courtesan, who abandons everything for love.
—Kirby Adams, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for courtesan
Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
Discovered in 1929 by the German astronomer Karl Reinmuth, it is named after the Spanish courtesan and dancer Carolina Otero.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Instead of being schooled as a courtesan, Alix has been shipped off to England in order to learn the skills required of a proper English wife.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Immerse yourself in the world of Violetta, a determined and famed courtesan, who abandons everything for love.
—Kirby Adams, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for courtesan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for courtesan
Noun
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Outside a tent, Dunk is told, by two of the show’s jaded yet cheerful prostitutes, that Ser Manfred is busy napping.—
Sarah Larson,
New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2026
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Andrei also reveals that Galyna (Sophia Shkliaruk), one of the Russian women whose murder the ladies were investigating, wasn’t a prostitute, but a KGB agent.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Well, yes, there were also hookers and tequila girls and whatever else was going on in those offices.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Nov. 2025
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Making the cut, however, is not enough for good ratings, and so the Network creates a fake new clickbait backstory for Richards, painting him as a deadbeat dad with a hooker for a wife.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Courtesan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/courtesan. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
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