Paramour
noun /ˈpær.ə.mɔːr/ — A lover, especially one in a secret or illicit relationship.
Definition
A lover, especially one in an illicit or secret relationship — typically implying passion, secrecy, and transgression. The word carries an air of old romance: the clandestine love that cannot be acknowledged in public but is completely real in private.
Beyond the definition
The word 'paramour' does something 'lover' does not — it suggests that the relationship exists outside the sanctioned arrangements of a life, and that this is both its complication and its intensity.
Origin & history
From Old French 'par amour' (by love, with love); from 'par' (by, through) + 'amour' (love). Through love — the relationship defined not by social arrangement but by the feeling itself.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
He referred to her as his paramour in letters he never sent — the word carrying everything the situation could not be openly called.
Medieval romance is built on the paramour tradition: the beloved who is married to another, the love that must be concealed.
She was nobody's paramour — but for a winter, she had been his, and the word still fit.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Paramour” when the meaning fits your context: A lover, especially one in an illicit or secret relationship — typically implying passion, secrecy, and transgression. The word carries an air of old romance: the clandestine love that cannot be acknowledged in public but is completely real in private.
Synonyms
lover, mistress, beloved, secret love
Antonyms
spouse, official partner
Related words
Paramour vs mistress
Paramour is a literary, gender-neutral term for an illicit lover. Mistress specifically refers to a woman in an affair with a married man and carries a distinct social stigma.
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Transgressive Private Connection
An adult waits in a shadowed corner of a moonlit garden for a secret meeting.
The clandestine and urgent nature of the meeting in the shadows suggests a paramour. It implies a love that is acknowledged only in private, existing outside of official social arrangements.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Paramour" mean?
Paramour is noun meaning: A lover, especially one in a secret or illicit relationship.. A lover, especially one in an illicit or secret relationship — typically implying passion, secrecy, and transgression. The word carries an air of old romance: the clandestine love that cannot be acknowledged in public but is completely real in private.
Where does the word "Paramour" come from?
From Old French 'par amour' (by love, with love); from 'par' (by, through) + 'amour' (love). Through love — the relationship defined not by social arrangement but by the feeling itself.