open marriage

American  

noun

1. a marriage in which the partners agree that each is free to have sexual relationships with other partners.

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open marriage British  

noun

1. a marriage in which the partners are free to pursue their own social and sexual lives

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Etymology

Origin of open marriage

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

January’s nonfiction is equally incendiary, ranging from a personal take on West Coast wildfires to an explosive memoir about open marriage.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2023

It's entirely possible that nothing, not even an open marriage, could have saved Love and Joe's ultimately doomed relationship.

From Salon • Oct. 25, 2021

I know you’re big fans of open marriage, but I can’t picture not getting overly attached to someone else, and I don’t want that either.

From Slate • Jan. 14, 2020

In their open marriage of convenience and calculation, she was the “brash” American who could offset Bowie’s British reserve and push him toward notoriety.

From Washington Post • Sep. 29, 2017

Abélard would perhaps have consented to an open marriage had Héloïse been willing; but with a strange perversity she refused.

From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 07 Great Women by Lord, John