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Glite Dictionary
white marriage

white marriage

9.1
Two people who are married but do not have sex or a romantic relationship
  • noun
translation icon : matrimonio blanco
  • For financial convenience, they entered into a white marriage despite lacking a romantic relationship.

Examples

  • The couple decided on a white marriage to maintain their independence while living together.

  • A white marriage can provide companionship without the pressures of intimacy.

  • Rumors spread about the royal couple's white marriage, though neither ever confirmed it.

  • They decided to enter into a white marriage for various personal reasons.

  • For financial convenience, they entered into a white marriage despite lacking a romantic relationship.

  • The couple decided on a white marriage to maintain their independence while living together.

  • A white marriage can provide companionship without the pressures of intimacy.

Antonyms

consummation
  • NSFW
1 8.3

The act of having sex that completes a marriage

Surface Forms

white marriage singular
white marriages plural

Morphology

white + marriage

The adjective 'white' can connote 'pure' or 'chaste', so there is a recognizable link to a marriage lacking sexual/romantic involvement; however this is a metaphorical, culturally specific extension rather than a straightforward compositional meaning. A B1 learner who knows 'white' (pure) and 'marriage' might guess something like 'innocent marriage' but would not reliably infer the precise sense 'no sexual relations' without prior exposure, so the expression is partially but not fully transparent.

Etymology

The noun white marriage may come from the old idea that white stands for 'pure' or 'without blood', creating the image of a wedding that did not include sex. So, a white marriage means a marriage where the partners do not 'have sex'.