Dictionary

kept woman en · NOUN

Etymology

From kept + woman.

Meanings

1. A woman who is supported financially by a lover (usually a married man).
   • "I'm a kept woman," she explained. "What else is any woman?" 1919, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter 5, in All Roads Lead to Calvary:
   • Fannie Hurst's tender and moving biography of a kept woman is here reproduced in a sincere, detailed picture. Irene Dunne . . . falls in love with John Boles, a pedigreed young banker, who by a series of misunderstandings, makes her his mistress instead of his wife. 1932 August 8, “Cinema: The New Pictures”, in Time:
   • He said: "Why bother about a career? After all, kept woman is a thoroughly respectable occupation—or can be made so by any preacher or justice of the peace. . . ." "I could not belong to a man unless I cared for him," said she. 1912, David Graham Phillips, chapter 6, in The Price She Paid:

Forms

Coordinates

kept man

Synonyms

doxy · sugar baby

Translations (9)

gl manata (woman supported financially by a lover) · gl barregá (woman supported financially by a lover) · es mantenida (woman supported financially by a lover) · hu kitartott nő (woman supported financially by a lover) · fr femme entretenue (woman supported financially by a lover) · pl utrzymanka (woman supported financially by a lover) · ru содержа́нка (woman supported financially by a lover) · it mantenuta (woman supported financially by a lover) · gl amasia (woman supported financially by a lover)