paramour

[ par-uh-moo r ]

/ ˈpær əˌmʊər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR paramour ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an illicit lover, especially of a married person.

any lover.

Nearby words

paramo, paramorph, paramorphine, paramorphism, paramount, paramour, paramus, paramyloid, paramyloidosis, paramyoclonus, paramyotonia

Origin of paramour

1250–1300; Middle English, from the phrase par amour by or through love < Old French

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for paramour

Sadly, he had to leave his paramour behind in the Sunshine State.
Jersey Shore Season 3 Premieres: Where We Left Off|The Daily Beast|January 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford spent last weekend in Florida with Maria Belen Chapur, his Argentinian paramour.
Mark Sanford Is a Romantic Hero|Ben Crair|June 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Some say simply because a paramour of his own had praised the boy's beauty and said his bride was a woman to be envied.
Cyropaedia|Xenophon
The marriage was a secret one, and Juliet would not have Romeo, if seen, supposed to be a paramour visiting her by night.
Shakespeare's Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet|William Shakespeare

Win her, I'll grant you my permission, for your paramour; and if you do, I'll give her to you for your own.
Wager of Battle|Henry William Herbert
It is the restoration of materialism with its paramour, obsequious art.
Art|Clive Bell
Moreover a mistress does not read Hebrew in a National Library with her paramour.
The Lake|George Moore

British Dictionary definitions for paramour

paramour

/ (ˈpærəˌmʊə) /

noun

mainly derogatory a lover, esp an adulterous woman

an archaic word for beloved (def. 2)

Word Origin for paramour

C13: from Old French, literally: through love

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