as in sex
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Recent Examples of fornication
Songs were also frequently flagged as dance music—while authorities viewed singing as having a proper place in praising God, dancing was totally forbidden as a gateway to fornication.
—
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 9 May 2025
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
Strong was promoted to Hand of the King after King Viserys banished Otto Hightower from court in the wake of allegations of fornication between Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon.
—Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 June 2024
Cleon is in the throes of hot, sweaty fornication with his robot aid, Laura Birn's Eto, when a group of assassins infiltrate his quarters and attack.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 10 July 2023
Charlotte, Harry, Lisa, and Herbert are gathered to send their kids off to summer camp, guaranteeing a few weeks of unfettered fornication.
—Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 6 July 2023
Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao star as a pair of astronauts stranded aboard a NASA shuttle that gets lost in space, and their decent onscreen chemistry helps fuel a rom-com tackling questions of fidelity, friendship and, well, fornication, as the would-be couple endlessly drifts through the cosmos.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Mar. 2023
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 9 May 2025
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
Strong was promoted to Hand of the King after King Viserys banished Otto Hightower from court in the wake of allegations of fornication between Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon.
—Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 June 2024
Cleon is in the throes of hot, sweaty fornication with his robot aid, Laura Birn's Eto, when a group of assassins infiltrate his quarters and attack.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 10 July 2023
Charlotte, Harry, Lisa, and Herbert are gathered to send their kids off to summer camp, guaranteeing a few weeks of unfettered fornication.
—Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 6 July 2023
Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao star as a pair of astronauts stranded aboard a NASA shuttle that gets lost in space, and their decent onscreen chemistry helps fuel a rom-com tackling questions of fidelity, friendship and, well, fornication, as the would-be couple endlessly drifts through the cosmos.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fornication
Noun
-
The World Ultimate Athletics Championships, which debut next September (as a finals-only global, international competition), are excluding men’s triple jump and women’s hammer throw, as well as shot put and discus for both sexes.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
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Ironically, stiff upper lips seem to have almost vanished as both sexes burst into tears if anything either lovely or lousy happens to them.—
Jilly Cooper,
Vogue,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Joseph was originally charged with forcible oral copulation, false imprisonment, and assault.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Duran was arrested and booked into jail on charges of oral copulation with a minor under the age of 18, deputies said.—
Paloma Chavez,
Sacbee.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
What this means for me, practically speaking, is that the director wants a close-up of my face as my character Joe is deep in dissociative reverie mid-coitus.—
Sophie Ansari,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
-
When coitus occurs, it’s scored by unctuous music.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There are alignments of anemia with some of the early modern symptoms of green sickness—though very few people today are likely to think anemia is caused by a blockage of bodily humors curable by intercourse.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Sep. 2025
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One 2024 survey found that about 60 percent of college students reported having had vaginal intercourse; a 2022 Pew Research survey reported that more than half of all adults under 30 were in a relationship at the time.—
Molly Langmuir,
The Atlantic,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
To combat the spread of the flies, the USDA disperses sterile flies into the area to stop the mating, a scientific method known as sterile insect technique (SIT).—
Lori Ann LaRocco,
CNBC,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Since these ticks are parthenogenetic, meaning an individual female can lay eggs without mating, essentially cloning herself, male ticks are rare.—
Chad Murphy,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Put another way, the three latest Brood X generation map perfectly to milestones in my life cycle: birth, coition, procreation.—
Ross Kenneth Urken,
Scientific American,
14 June 2021
-
But the course of the hunt itself is unnameable and uncontrollable, like coition.—
Roberto Calasso,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2020
Noun
-
Inside, storylines followed a formula with frequently dire consequences for the twisted woman who dared indulge in, by today’s standards, some pretty tame lovemaking.—
Trish Bendix
August 21,
Literary Hub,
21 Aug. 2025
-
No, thank you, to this mentally ill request for lovemaking.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
17 May 2025
Noun
-
The problem is that the world of interpersonal relations is hard to put a number on.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
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Tensions were already high between Washington and Bogotá over President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to curb drug trafficking, threatening the countries’ close security and commercial relations.—
J.D. Capelouto,
semafor.com,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fornication.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fornication. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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