as in prostitute
a woman who engages in sexual activities for money
the protagonist of the novel is a composite of several real-life courtesans who plied their trade among the decadent aristocracy
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Recent Examples of courtesan
Later, Cellini is invited to a dinner and shows up with a young man dressed as a woman; the courtesan, his lover at the time, is also at the dinner, which leads to an enormously violent scene.
—
Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
Discovered in 1929 by the German astronomer Karl Reinmuth, it is named after the Spanish courtesan and dancer Carolina Otero.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Instead of being schooled as a courtesan, Alix has been shipped off to England in order to learn the skills required of a proper English wife.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Immerse yourself in the world of Violetta, a determined and famed courtesan, who abandons everything for love.
—Kirby Adams, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for courtesan
Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025
Discovered in 1929 by the German astronomer Karl Reinmuth, it is named after the Spanish courtesan and dancer Carolina Otero.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Instead of being schooled as a courtesan, Alix has been shipped off to England in order to learn the skills required of a proper English wife.
—Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Immerse yourself in the world of Violetta, a determined and famed courtesan, who abandons everything for love.
—Kirby Adams, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for courtesan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for courtesan
Noun
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Many maintained contact with him even after his conviction in 2008 for soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution in Florida.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
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The mothers were usually poor women or prostitutes, the children generally given up for adoption to orphanages, many of them run by foreign missionaries.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Well, yes, there were also hookers and tequila girls and whatever else was going on in those offices.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Nov. 2025
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Making the cut, however, is not enough for good ratings, and so the Network creates a fake new clickbait backstory for Richards, painting him as a deadbeat dad with a hooker for a wife.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Courtesan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/courtesan. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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