as in lovers
literary
a person with whom someone is having a romantic or sexual relationship and especially a secret or improper relationship
Her husband found a love letter from her paramour.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paramours
During the course of the film, Grace deals with life, love (including a pair of paramours from the same band), professional disappointments, and the fallout of a horrible experience from her past.
—
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 9 Mar. 2026
Other unconfirmed paramours include A$AP Rocky, multiple NBA players, and, most recently, Bad Bunny.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
The record is filled with sexy dance-pop bangers and finds Khalid — for the first time in his career — using he/him pronouns when discussing paramours in his lyrics.
—Jeff Nelson, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Once again, the Western canon’s most famous paramours have traded soliloquies for pointe shoes.
—Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Apr. 2023
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 9 Mar. 2026
Other unconfirmed paramours include A$AP Rocky, multiple NBA players, and, most recently, Bad Bunny.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
The record is filled with sexy dance-pop bangers and finds Khalid — for the first time in his career — using he/him pronouns when discussing paramours in his lyrics.
—Jeff Nelson, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Once again, the Western canon’s most famous paramours have traded soliloquies for pointe shoes.
—Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paramours
Noun
-
Uncompromising lovers of luxury.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 Apr. 2026
-
While the storm is looming, there are new glimmers of possibility—friends can become lovers, strangers can become friends on the subway, the supermarket aisles are charged with meaning.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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All the girls are now wearing little black shades and flipping their hair about maniacally with a pen in their mouth, while their boyfriends are in backwards Kangol flat-caps and riding bicycles.—
Daisy Jones,
Vogue,
26 Mar. 2026
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It's become a buzzword lobbed at bad bosses and ex-boyfriends, and leaders across the political spectrum.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Russell denied involvement, saying one of Johnson’s girlfriends may have set him up.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Apr. 2026
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Swift has a lot of close girlfriends to choose from, from Selena Gomez to Gigi Hadid, Brittany Mahomes, future sister-in-law Kylie Kelce, and the Haim sisters.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In this sketch, a group of women worries about whether their husbands in the other room are getting along.—
Rima Parikh,
Vulture,
5 Apr. 2026
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What looked at first to be a repeat of a recent sketch about wine-drinking wives chatting in the kitchen and playing truth or dare instead pivoted to a scene about husbands stuck together in a den with nothing to talk about.—
Omar L. Gallaga,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
It is set at an elite preparatory school to groom future wives, made up of daughters of Commanders, many of whom have been taken away from their birth parents, and so-called Pearl Girls, recruited from outside of Gilead.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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In the sketch, a group of five men — forced to spend time together so their wives can socialize in the kitchen — seemingly have nothing in common and are destined for an afternoon of drinking beer in silence.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paramours.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paramours. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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