inamorata

American  

[in-am-uh-rah-tuh, in-am-] / ɪnˌæm əˈrɑ tə, ˌɪn æm- /

noun

• inamoratas
  plural

1. a woman who loves or is loved; female sweetheart or lover.

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inamorata British  

/ ɪnˌæməˈrɑːtə, ˌɪnæmə- /

noun

1. a woman with whom one is in love; a female lover

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• inamoratas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of inamorata

1645–55; < Italian innamorata (feminine); see inamorato

Explanation

If you want to sound a little old-fashioned, you might refer to your girlfriend as your inamorata. A woman you love in a romantic way is your inamorata, although it's not a very common term these days. It would be a little startling if your friend said, "I'd like to introduce you to my inamorata," though you'd know he meant "the woman I love." The male version of an inamorata is inamorato, which is even more rarely used. Both words come from the Italian innamorare, "to fall in love."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

inamorata inamoratas

Della scores with her screenwriter inamorata, Anita, at Anita’s retreat in Palm Springs.

From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2023

Consider what you will do if you decide to leave your partner and your inamorata doesn’t leave theirs.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2019

“Children of a Lesser God,” in which a teacher at a school for the deaf trains his inamorata to speak, made a brief return to Broadway, with a mixed-race cast.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 17, 2018

That would be the same crazed, cuckolded Cardenio whom Don Quixote met in Chapter 23 of the novel, then helped reunite with his inamorata a hundred pages later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2016

Hallard bade his inamorata good night with genuine affection.

From What Will People Say? A novel by Rupert Hughes

A visit from Cecily, accompanied by one of her inamoratas, riveted Harrison: The couple dressed alike in black, shared a single seat at the dinner table and ate from a single plate.

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2018

Fernanda Rohd and Melody Hollis suggest opposite sides of the same essential coin as two very different inamoratas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2016

I ask when he notes that many of his inamoratas have developed careers off the sheen of his celebrity.

From Forbes ● Oct. 18, 2012

Preparatory School youths who telephone Spence inamoratas find they may not speak to them.

From Time Magazine Archive

On the bright waters, below, young clerks were sculling their inamoratas up and down; the ripples set free by their oars gleamed beneath the sun, and ducks swam lazily along the banks.

From Fraternity by John Galsworthy