open marriage

noun

1. a marriage in which the partners agree that each is free to have sexual relationships with other partners.

open marriage

noun

1. a marriage in which the partners are free to pursue their own social and sexual lives

Word History and Origins

Origin of open marriage¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Conrad, you see, is in an open marriage and enjoys a little submission and a little pain with her sex.

From The Daily Beast

But he stopped short of saying they were in an open marriage.

From The Daily Beast

Newt asked Marianne to accept an open marriage while preaching family values to the rest of us.

From The Daily Beast

Newt had been in an open marriage for six years; only Marianne had not been told of it.

From The Daily Beast

What was most shocking about the bombshell reveal—that Newt asked for an open marriage—was the Callista part.

From The Daily Beast

Such was the blended truth, irony, and wit with which Héloïse dissuaded Abélard from open marriage.

From Project Gutenberg

Uncle Richard, if that clandestine marriage with Sarah Pepper was valid, why the open marriage five months later?

From Project Gutenberg

Agnes preferred an open marriage as least in consequences, and involving every trouble in the brave outset.

From Project Gutenberg