live in sin


Cohabit outside marriage, as in Bill and Anne lived in sin for years before they got married. This term, dating from the early 1800s, is mostly used in a jocular fashion today, when customs and views are more liberal in this regard. Also see live together.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.