Synonyms

open marriage

American

noun

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

open marriage British

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of open marriage

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Come for the haunting bangers about her open marriage to ‘Stranger Things’ star David Harbour and their Architectural Digest video; stay for Dallas Major and Madeline.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025

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

My wife and I have been married for 10 years, but she recently asked me for an open marriage.

From Slate • May 24, 2021

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

"Uncle Richard, if that clandestine marriage with Sarah Pepper was valid, why the open marriage five months later?" he asked, clinging to this straw of hope.

From Crestlands A Centennial Story of Cane Ridge by Bayne, Mary Addams

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023