seven-year itch
[sev-en-yeer]
- scabies.
- the temptation to have an affair, held to become a hazard in the seventh year of marriage.
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Origin of seven-year itch
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
seven-year itch
- informal a tendency towards infidelity, traditionally said to begin after about seven years of marriage
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for seven-year itch
n.
1899, American English, some sort of skin condition (sometimes identified with poison ivy infection) that either lasts seven years or returns every seven years. Jocular use for "urge to stray from marital fidelity" is attested from 1952, as the title of the Broadway play (made into a film, 1955) by George Axelrod (1922-2003), in which the lead male character reads an article describing the high number of men have extra-marital affairs after seven years of marriage.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper