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marital embrace

marital embrace

4.9
A warm hug shared by two people who are married
  • noun
translation icon : abrazo marital
  • After a long day at work, they shared a warm marital embrace on the couch.

Examples

  • The couple often finds comfort in a loving marital embrace after arguing.

  • During the wedding ceremony, the couple exchanged vows and sealed their promises with a tender marital embrace.

  • That Mary and Joseph never participated in the marital embrace does not mean that their union was invalid.

    Blog text (8)

Synonyms

cuddle
vsmarital embrace
19 1.0

A close hug that shows love or gives comfort

is specifically a loving hold between spouses rather than mainly for comfort
squeeze
vsmarital embrace
  • Informal
10 2.0

A tight warm hug

is gentler and not focused on strong pressure between spouses
bear hug
vsmarital embrace
9 3.0

A very strong, tight hold with your arms around someone

is gentler and reserved for loving holds between spouses
hugging
vsmarital embrace
2 1.0

An act of holding someone close to show love or friendship

is specifically a loving hold between spouses rather than playful preliminary contact
embracement
vsmarital embrace
1 4.7

Holding someone in your arms to show affection

is reserved for loving holds between spouses rather than general greeting
abrazo
vsmarital embrace
1 8.2

A warm hug people give to show affection

is a loving hold between spouses rather than a broad greeting
embracing
vsmarital embrace
2.5

A close hug made by putting your arms around someone to show affection

is reserved for loving holds shared specifically between spouses
open-armed hug
vsmarital embrace
2.5

A warm welcome you give by opening your arms to hold someone

is a close loving hold between spouses rather than an outward welcome

Antonyms

71 4.6

Lack of interest or concern about something

8 7.8

A feeling of no longer being close to someone

How Affectionate

marital embrace
4.9
hug
433 1.0
pat
1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

marital + embrace

The meaning is directly and transparently composed from 'marital' (relating to marriage) + 'embrace' (a hug), so a learner who knows both words will infer it means a hug between married partners. This adjective+noun construction follows regular compositional patterns common across languages, making it immediately understandable to B1 learners.

Etymology

Marital embrace, comes from two simple words: marital, meaning 'about being married', and embrace, meaning 'a close hug'. The image is of a couple holding each other after their vows or in quiet moments, so the phrase means 'a loving hug between married partners'.