three's a crowd

Idioms  

1. Also, two's company, three's a crowd. A third person spoils the ideal combination of a couple, as in No, I won't join you—three's a crowd. This expression, alluding to a third person spoiling the privacy of a pair of lovers, was already a proverb in 1546. For a synonym, see fifth wheel.

---

Example Sentences

Two’s company but three’s a crowd in the thriller “Stalked by My Husband’s Ex.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2020

While there is plenty of time to fashion a better way, it would behoove the good people of the commission to reexamine their rigid attitude that three’s a crowd.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2019

Suddenly, the show’s central relationship went from two’s company to three’s a crowd, with the extra appendage a shiny deadweight with a boyband centre parting.

From The Guardian • Aug. 7, 2017

As much as last weekend proved that two mega-hit films could both reach their maximum potential, apparently three’s a crowd as we are still waiting for the fabled “three $50m movies in one weekend” frame.

From Forbes • Jun. 28, 2015

On general principles, it's pretty good doctrine that two's a company and three's a crowd, except when the third is a cook.

From Old Gorgon Graham More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son by Lorimer, George Horace