serial monogamy

English

WOTD – 13 June 2011

Pronunciation

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Noun

serial monogamy (uncountable)

1. The practice of having a succession of (especially short) monogamous relationships with different people.
   • 1972, Carl R. Rogers, Becoming Partners: Marriage and its Alternatives, page 11:

     Living together without marriage, [...], serial monogamy (with one divorce after another), [...] — these are all gropings toward some new form of man-woman relationship for the future.

   • 1993, Susan Moore, Doreen Rosenthal, Sexuality in Adolescence, page 127:

     For some adolescents, serial monogamy — or a succession of 'permanent' relationships — is the norm, confirming earlier findings with American adolescents reported by Sorensen (1973).

   • 2008 March 1, “Sex and sensibility”, in The Economist:

     If serial monogamy is the norm, even if individuals have many partners over time, the virus is trapped within relationships and gets around slowly.

   • 2011 March 30, The Guardian:

     Pawley was, of course, not the last man to suffer from Taylor's serial monogamy, with the Hollywood star marrying eight times in her life.

Related terms

• serial monogamist

Translations

practice of having successive marital relationships

• Finnish: peräkkäinen yksiavioisuus