as in sex
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Recent Examples of fornication
The Fifth Street School Apartments, at Dr. William Finlayson Street and West Christine Street, was a revolving door for dangerous activities: drug use, theft, non-tenants sleeping in the hallways, and even public fornication.
—
Everett Eaton,
jsonline.com,
16 Feb. 2026
Having struck out with Nicholas, Laura is forced to return to her old tactics: impeding fornication.
—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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
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
Everett Eaton,
jsonline.com,
16 Feb. 2026
Having struck out with Nicholas, Laura is forced to return to her old tactics: impeding fornication.
—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fornication
Noun
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More than likely, based on Golden State statutes, the eight years Weinstein received for the forcible oral copulation conviction will be reduced by a couple of years.
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After spending close to seven years in prison, Weinstein, 74, has still served less than half of his 16-year-sentence in California, where he was found guilty of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and penetration by foreign object against Jane Doe 1.
Noun
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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.
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When coitus occurs, it’s scored by unctuous music.
Noun
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The two counts of rape Høiby was convicted of did not involve intercourse.
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However, soy isoflavones didn’t appear to provide significant overall benefits for painful intercourse, hot flashes, night sweats, and psychological symptoms.
Noun
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In any number of species—elephant seals, red deer, rattlesnakes—the privilege of mating is settled by a fight.
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Both food and mating motivate humpback journeys in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Noun
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But the course of the hunt itself is unnameable and uncontrollable, like coition.
Noun
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The tension finally boils over when Joe accuses them of being inconsiderate neighbors with their loud lovemaking.
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The two wind up crossing paths again and hooking up much more intensely, in a sweaty and passionate bout of lovemaking that sets the stage for a true romance.
Noun
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Emily Brontë’s telling of this narrative premise was, also, far ahead of its time, unadorned, stripped bare, always in immediate reach of the brutal facts of her characters’ relations and complications with each other.
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Runcie is sharply attuned to the vast uncomfortable grey areas of gender and power relations, navigating them with wry, revelatory observations that are devastatingly acute.
Cite this Entry
“Fornication.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fornication. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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