illicit love

Secret romantic entanglement

Illicit love is a romantic or sexual relationship that violates social norms, legal boundaries, or moral expectations—typically an affair outside marriage or a forbidden attraction: Their illicit love affair lasted three years before his wife discovered it.

The phrase carries both condemnation and a hint of passionate intensity, suggesting love that thrives precisely because it's prohibited.

Related

passion · adultery · broken vows · tryst · clandestine · other woman · betrayal · stolen · stolen moments · desire · infidelity · rendezvous · taboo · cheating · mistress · scandal · temptation · whispers

Categories
Opposites
social/legal legitimacy

illicit lovemarriage

Formal union between partners

matrimony · wedlock · holy matrimony · spousal love · wedded bliss

moral/ethical standing

illicit lovepure love

Affection free of conditions

platonic love · spiritual love

conduct and propriety

illicit loveopen relationship

Consensual romantic nonexclusivity

Family

illicit, illicitly, illicitness, love, loved, loves, loving, lovingly, lover

Familiarity
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Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG-13