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
-
People of all sexes and gender identities have a role to play.—
Beth Ann Mayer,
Parents,
20 Oct. 2025
-
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
Noun
-
Joseph was originally charged with forcible oral copulation, false imprisonment, and assault.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
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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
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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.—
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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Between 13 to 84% of postmenopausal women experience vaginal pain during intercourse, with pelvic floor tension being one of the many reasons behind the discomfort.—
Jocelyn Solis-Moreira,
Flow Space,
4 Nov. 2025
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Others debated whether the ban should extend to pastors who molested 16- and 17-year-olds without having intercourse.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Instead, the authors think the males may have mounted the females , who were lying on their sides, and pressed down on the females’ tails during mating, accidentally breaking the neural spines.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
4 Nov. 2025
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Nashville Zoo has unlocked a successful mating rate by keeping cubs together at a young age, going from 20% to 40% to a 95% success rate as part of its effort to protect animal species.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Nov. 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
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But the course of the hunt itself is unnameable and uncontrollable, like coition.—
Roberto Calasso,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2020
Noun
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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
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Some have responded by becoming more protectionist or looking to foster relations with China, which has tried to be seen as a promoter of free trade.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
3 Nov. 2025
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Citywide, Detroit's two at-large council members, Incumbents Coleman Young II and and Mary Waters, are running for reelection in a field that includes former City Council member Janee’ Ayers and James Harris, a community relations chief for the Detroit Fire Department.—
Detroit Free Press,
Freep.com,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fornication.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fornication. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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