Advanced · Often misused · Love & friendship
Celibate: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Celibate adjective. Unmarried, especially because of a religious vow.
How to say it
SEL-ih-but/ˈsɛlɪbət/
3 syllables, stressed on the first (SEL).
Meanings
- Unmarried, especially because of a religious vow.
- Not having sexual relationships.
Celibate in a sentence
Priests of the Latin rite are expected to remain celibate.
He lived a celibate life in the monastery for forty years.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- unmarried
- single
- chaste
Opposite:
- married
Careful
Celibate first meant unmarried; today it almost always means abstaining from sex, a sense every dictionary now gives. The old sense survives mainly in talk of religious vows.
Where celibate comes from
From Latin caelebs, unmarried.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
He lived a _____ life in the monastery for forty years.
- penultimate
- restive
- celibate
Show the answer
celibate: He lived a celibate life in the monastery for forty years.