eternal triangle

British  

noun

1. an emotional relationship in which there are conflicts involving a man and two women or a woman and two men

---

eternal triangle Idioms  

1. A relationship involving three lovers, such as two women involved with one man or two men with one woman. For example, The plot of the murder mystery revolved around the eternal triangle of a husband, wife, and another woman. [c. 1900]

---

Example Sentences

It surely is in this fresh angle on the eternal triangle.

From Time • May 22, 2010

An outspoken, thoughtful appeal to solve the eternal triangle of God, Man and the Devil through the instruments of Science now available and through new standards of conduct.

From Time Magazine Archive

This latest of popular Novelist Powell's brittle, flashy novels turns the eternal triangle into a polygon in 334 pages.

From Time Magazine Archive

The film is an old-fashioned tearjerker about the eternal triangle and a woman's sacrifice, played to the interminable accompaniment of caterwauling cellos.

From Time Magazine Archive

But let them have it as an example of the eternal triangle, the trinity of hate.

From Women in Love by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)