Paramour

/ˈpæɹəmʊə/ · noun

Meaning

(chiefly archaic) A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner..

Definitions by Sense

1. (chiefly archaic) A person who is the object of one's love, especially in an affair or romance; a lover; also, a sexual partner.
2. A person (especially someone who is not one's spouse) with whom one has an illicit or secret affair; also (Scotland, US, law), one with whom a married person has an adulterous affair.
3. A woman who is the object of a knight's love, and who he fights for.
4. God as the object of a person's devotion or love.
5. (intransitive, chiefly dated) To have an illicit or secret affair with a person, especially someone who is not one's spouse.
6. Of loving, etc.: out of or through romantic feeling or sexual desire; passionately.
7. Used chiefly when addressing someone: out of or through devotion or kindness; as a favour or kindness.

Example Sentences

No ſolace could her Paramour intreat / Her once to ſhovv, ne court, nor dalliaunce, / But vvith bent lovvring brovves, as ſhe vvould threat, / She ſcould, and frovvned vvith frovvard countenaunce, / Vnvvorthy of faire Ladies comely gouernaunce.

It vvas no ſeaſon then for her [Nature] / To vvanton vvith the Sun her luſty Paramour.

Their ſociety vvas more like that of a den of outlavvs upon a doubtful frontier; of a levvd tavern for the revels and debauches of banditti, aſſaſſins, bravos, ſmugglers, and their more deſperate paramours, mixed vvith bombaſtick players, the refuſe and rejected offal of ſtrolling theatres, […]

Yes, in […] these very halls, to have lived the paramour of their murderer, the slave at once and the partaker of his pleasures, was to render every breath which I drew of vital air, a crime and a curse.

to run away with a paramour

And if it ſo that ſhe be not his wyfe (bicauſe ſhe was once his brothers wyfe) as your Doctors ſaye and affirme, then no man can excuſe your kynge nor ſaye but that ſhe hath ben euyil handeled, and kepte lyke a Concubine or Paramour for the bodely appetite, which is a great ſpotte, ſhame, ⁊ rebuke to her and to her whole lynage, […]

I ſue not novv, thy Paramoure to be, / But as a husband to be linck'd to thee.

You vvould believe that the Images of Men-Saints vvere ſome Princes of Perſia-land vvith their proud Apparel; and the Idols of our VVomen-Saints vvere nice vvell-trimmed Harlots tempting their Paramours to vvantonneſs.

Synonyms for paramour

Antonyms for paramour

Related Words

Word Forms

• paramours
• paramouring
• paramoured

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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