kept woman
Financially dependent lover
A kept woman is a woman financially supported by a man in exchange for companionship and sexual availability, without marriage.
The arrangement implies she is maintained in comfort—an apartment, allowance, gifts—as his mistress: He installed his kept woman in a flat across town.
The phrase is somewhat old-fashioned, carrying connotations of secrecy and social disapproval.
Illicit female lover
- concubineSecondary female partner
- paramourLover in secret affair
- courtesanPaid aristocratic companion
- sugar babySponsored romantic companion
maintained · companion · consort · inamorata · bit on the side · side piece · arrangement · understanding
Fixed periodic payment
- stipendFixed regular payment
- maintenancePreserving working condition
- provisionPreparatory supply or clause
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
benefactor · provider · sponsor · apartment · gifts · jewelry · furs · financial support
Careful to avoid notice
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- hiddenKept out of sight
- covertIntentionally concealed
- privateRestricted to certain parties
secret · hush-hush · concealed · double life · unlisted · anonymous · incognito · veiled
mistress
Illicit female lover
sugar baby · maintained · companion · consort · inamorata · bit on the side · side piece · arrangement · understanding · situation
allowance
Fixed periodic payment
- stipendFixed regular payment
- maintenancePreserving working condition
- provisionPreparatory supply or clause
patronage · benefactor · provider · sponsor · apartment · gifts · jewelry · furs · financial support · rent
discreet
Careful to avoid notice
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- hiddenKept out of sight
- covertIntentionally concealed
private · secret · hush-hush · concealed · double life · unlisted · anonymous · incognito · veiled · shadowy
opulence
Showy, abundant prosperity
- extravaganceExcessive, wasteful spending
- lavishAbundant beyond necessity
- diamondsPrecious crystallized carbon
penthouse · designer · champagne · finery · silks · pearls · mink · chauffeur · glamour · indulgence
gossip
Informal talk spreading rumors
- tabloidSensationalist newspaper format
- infamyExtreme public disgrace
- shamePainful awareness of failure
disgrace · notoriety · exposure · reputation · morality · hypocrisy · judgment · condemnation · whispers · rumors
- forbidden loveforbidden love, forbidden romance, illicit love, secret love, forbidden fruit
- gender stereotypesboys will be boys, pink for girls, blue for boys, man up, strong men
- age-gap romanceage difference, older man, cougar, silver fox, sugar daddy
- class labelsaristocrat, beggar, bourgeois, commoner, elite
- infidelityadultery, affair, adulteress, cheating, cheater
- opportunistsopportunist, exploiter, user, gold digger, fortune hunter
kept womankept man
Subsidized male companion
breadwinner · career woman · self-made woman · provider · sugar daddy
kept womanwife
Female marriage partner
spouse · married woman · bride · life partner · consort
kept womankept man
Subsidized male companion
sugar mama · sugar daddy · benefactor · patron · provider
keep, woman, kept, keeper, keeping, women, upkeep, keepsake, shopkeeper