honeymoon

American  

[huhn-ee-moon] / ˈhʌn iˌmun /

noun

• honeymoons
  plural

1. a vacation or trip taken by a newly married couple (often used attributively).

   After you've said "I do," why not escape to a dream honeymoon in Greece?

   Relax and kindle the flame of passion in one of our honeymoon suites.

2. a period of harmony at the beginning of a marriage.

   After the initial honeymoon, there may be a temptation to let routine take over.

3. any period of blissful harmony.

   Their entire 60 years of marriage was one long honeymoon.

4. any new relationship characterized by an initial period of harmony and goodwill.

   The honeymoon between Congress and the new president was over.

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verb (used without object)

• honeymoons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• honeymooned,
  past participle,  past
• honeymooning
  present participle

1. to spend one's honeymoon (usually followed by in orat ).

   In a few months we’ll be honeymooning in New Zealand, and we can't wait!

honeymoon British  

/ ˈhʌnɪˌmuːn /

noun

1. 1. a holiday taken by a newly married couple

   2. ( as modifier )

      a honeymoon cottage

2. a holiday considered to resemble a honeymoon

   a second honeymoon

3. the early, usually calm period of a relationship, such as a political or business one

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verb

1. (intr) to take a honeymoon

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• honeymooner
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• honeymoons
  plural

Participles

• honeymooning
  present
• honeymooned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• honeymoon
  simple
• honeymoons
  simple
• have honeymooned
  perfect
• has honeymooned
  perfect
• am honeymooning
  progressive
• are honeymooning
  progressive
• is honeymooning
  progressive
• have been honeymooning
  perfect progressive
• has been honeymooning
  perfect progressive

Past

• honeymooned
  simple
• had honeymooned
  perfect
• was honeymooning
  progressive
• were honeymooning
  progressive
• had been honeymooning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will honeymoon
  simple
• will have honeymooned
  perfect
• will be honeymooning
  progressive
• will have been honeymooning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of honeymoon

First recorded in 1540–50; honey + moon

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Explanation

A honeymoon is a trip that newlyweds traditionally take right after their wedding. You might want to wait to get married until you meet someone who wants to go to Legoland on a honeymoon as much as you do. Some honeymoons are long and luxurious, involving cruises and Europe or tropical beaches and fancy hotels, while others are simple and low-key. Many married couples don't take a honeymoon at all, or wait years until having a holiday they call a honeymoon. In the 1540s, it was a hony moone, and it referred more generally to the sweet, tender span of time after a wedding. In German, it's a flitterwochen, or "tinsel week."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

honeymoon honeymoons honeymooned honeymooning

Throwing in honeymoon vouchers and cash handouts for new babies, the government aims to create what it calls a “birth-friendly society.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Now, he’s often being asked by couples for cash they can put toward a honeymoon or down payment on a house—sometimes via Venmo links on their wedding websites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

That included newlyweds Sasha and James, who told BBC Your Voice they spent three hours stranded in Wetherspoons at Gatwick after their flight to their honeymoon was cancelled.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

"I was on my honeymoon trying to arrange it," Greenway told the BBC.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

“I wish I could, Hoyt. It sure hasn’t been any honeymoon around here for a long time.”

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Massive infrastructure projects generally take longer than political honeymoons like the one Carney is enjoying, warns Alex Marland, professor of Canadian politics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026

The eight couples have wedded, their week-long honeymoons are over and now they are adjusting to married life, living on top of each other in small London apartments.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2024

Many Indian celebrities visit the Maldives on vacations and honeymoons, and some of them took to social media condemning the comments.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2024

Now she mitigated the humiliation of letting someone else deal with her body’s waste by asking about their honeymoons and graduations and divorces.

From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2023

Its swaths of deep brush and arable land made it great for farming but less appealing for honeymoons and hedonism.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore

The Sullivan Canyon home was inspired by the architecture of classic California ranches including San Ysidro Ranch, where John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

He later honeymooned in the country with wife Gwen Whipple and also organised summer educational trips to China for US students.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024

Still, the hotel maintained its sentimental pull as the place where your parents honeymooned; where you spent your first night in the big city; where you rendezvoused with friends.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

After they honeymooned in Mexico, Jackie, 24, stayed with her in-laws in Hyannis Port, Mass., while John, a 36-year-old freshman senator, visited on the weekends.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2023

Mr. Bell explained that he had honeymooned in Cuernavaca.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

A private tour to North America organised by Arthur Malley in 1932, which included a honeymooning Don Bradman, saw an Australian XI held to several draws including some on US soil.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024

I read it in the summer of 2017 while honeymooning in Crete, a place whose Minoan civilization figures prominently in Cline’s narrative.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2024

While his mother and new stepfather spend Christmas honeymooning in the Caribbean, Angus is left under the supervision of Paul, who has no family, friends or winter plans to speak of.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2023

In the 1950s, Ms. Andersen moved to the Long Beach area in Southern California after honeymooning there with her first husband, Helge Jeppesen.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2023

He had been honeymooning with his fifth wife when he broke his leg.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

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