paramour

/ˈpærəmʊə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈpærəmʊr/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈper-ə-ˌmu̇r ˈpa-rə-/ (ame, mw)

paramour — noun

  • paramoursingular
  • paramoursplural

1. a lover, typically secret, of a person who is married or in a committed relation

1.名詞C2
釋義

a lover, typically secret, of a person who is married or in a committed relationship with someone else — often used in older novels, court reports, or society gossip rather than everyday talk.

例句

The Victorian novel reveals that the duchess kept a young paramour at a cottage near the river.

literary register: 'kept a paramour'

Tabloid reporters camped outside the hotel where the senator was said to meet his paramour.

collocation: 'meet a paramour' (clandestine)

同義詞
  • lover

    neutral and far more common; 'paramour' adds a literary, scandal-tinted shade.

  • mistress

    specifically a woman in a long-term affair with a married man; gendered and more direct.

  • inamorato

    rare and bookish; the male object of someone's love, without the affair implication.

反義詞
  • spouse

    the legally and publicly recognised partner — the social opposite of a secret lover.

文法句型

somebody's paramour

用法筆記

Almost always carries a whiff of scandal, secrecy, or social impropriety; in modern English it is more often found in historical, literary, or tabloid writing than in neutral conversation. Treat as a near-synonym of 'lover' only when the affair-with-someone-already-attached flavour is intended.

常見錯誤

❌My boyfriend is my paramour.
✅My boyfriend is my partner.
💡'paramour' implies a hidden or improper affair, not a public, accepted relationship.
❌They got married last summer; he is her paramour now.
✅They got married last summer; he is her husband now.
💡once a relationship is open and legitimate, 'paramour' no longer fits.