as in sex
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Recent Examples of fornication
Strong was promoted to Hand of the King after King Viserys banished Otto Hightower from court in the wake of allegations of fornication between Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon.
—
Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 June 2024
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
Co-created by the Egyptian American comedian Ramy Youssef, the show gives viewers a peek into the dirty mind of an unmarried Muslim twentysomething struggling to reconcile his duelling devotions: faith and fornication.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2024
Because surely, surely, the housewives of Dublin were not so lustful that chance encounters with tradesmen led immediately to attacks of passion and fornication?
—Mary Costello, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2023
Charlotte, Harry, Lisa, and Herbert are gathered to send their kids off to summer camp, guaranteeing a few weeks of unfettered fornication.
—Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 6 July 2023
Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao star as a pair of astronauts stranded aboard a NASA shuttle that gets lost in space, and their decent onscreen chemistry helps fuel a rom-com tackling questions of fidelity, friendship and, well, fornication, as the would-be couple endlessly drifts through the cosmos.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Mar. 2023
And fornication is punishable by what, my love?
—Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 May 2022
This judge, who believes gay people are disordered and that being transgender is a mental illness, also laments widespread contraception and the elimination of legal penalties for fornication and adultery.
—Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Mar. 2023
Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 June 2024
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
Co-created by the Egyptian American comedian Ramy Youssef, the show gives viewers a peek into the dirty mind of an unmarried Muslim twentysomething struggling to reconcile his duelling devotions: faith and fornication.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2024
Because surely, surely, the housewives of Dublin were not so lustful that chance encounters with tradesmen led immediately to attacks of passion and fornication?
—Mary Costello, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2023
Charlotte, Harry, Lisa, and Herbert are gathered to send their kids off to summer camp, guaranteeing a few weeks of unfettered fornication.
—Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 6 July 2023
Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao star as a pair of astronauts stranded aboard a NASA shuttle that gets lost in space, and their decent onscreen chemistry helps fuel a rom-com tackling questions of fidelity, friendship and, well, fornication, as the would-be couple endlessly drifts through the cosmos.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Mar. 2023
And fornication is punishable by what, my love?
—Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 May 2022
This judge, who believes gay people are disordered and that being transgender is a mental illness, also laments widespread contraception and the elimination of legal penalties for fornication and adultery.
—Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fornication
Noun
-
The changes will also enshrine in the constitution that Hungary will recognize only two sexes, male and female, an idea that Trump has also backed.—
Reuters,
NBC News,
12 Mar. 2025
-
William and his assistants were nonetheless able to build solid pillars of data, mass death broken down into discrete numerals to represent sexes, ages, locations, seasons, years, and causes of mortality, which included starvation, scurvy, dysentery, cholera, typhus, and relapsing fever.—
Fintan O'Toole,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Adding to these racial fetish undertones is a Black family servant whose coitus with Lucy’s soon-to-be sister-in-law (a white woman with box braids) is also constantly on display, leaving her to pleasure herself when he’s called away.—
Nicholas Bell,
SPIN,
31 July 2024
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On occasion, the coitus took place at the volunteers’ homes.—
Gretchen Reynolds,
Anchorage Daily News,
16 Feb. 2023
Noun
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In the recent study, three of the couples reported using condoms during intercourse, and their sexome analysis still revealed that the microbial transfer was not completely blocked.—
Margherita Bassi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Fertility awareness methods: Natural family planning techniques involve tracking the menstrual cycle to avoid intercourse during fertile days.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Verywell Health,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Put another way, the three latest Brood X generation map perfectly to milestones in my life cycle: birth, coition, procreation.—
Ross Kenneth Urken,
Scientific American,
14 June 2021
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But the course of the hunt itself is unnameable and uncontrollable, like coition.—
Roberto Calasso,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2020
Noun
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The only real originality in the accounts of Jesus’ virgin birth is their distinctly Jewish and prudish tone, with the impregnation dignified and at arm’s length rather than represented, as in the Hellenistic myths, as a shower of gold or the lovemaking of an amorous swan.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
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Always sick, always breathless, his lovemaking constantly interrupted by his coughing or his guts.—
Daniel Mason,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
American society and our relations with other societies are driven by the competition/conflict choice.—
Letters to the Editor,
Orlando Sentinel,
4 Jan. 2025
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The concerns over trade relations stem from a history of tariffs, sanctions, and disputes that have strained the ties between the world's two largest economies.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
3 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fornication.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fornication. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.
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