Meanings
plural bedfellows
- One with whom one shares a bed.
Therefore, grave mistresses of fate, I pray / That I may never live to see the day / When Zeus takes me for his bedfellow;
1922, “Prometheus Bound”, in Geoffrey Montagu Cookson, transl., Four Plays of Aeschylus, page 2032 more examples
Yong budding Virgin, faire, and freſh,& ſweet, / Whether away, or whether is thy aboade? / Happy the Parents of ſo faire a childe; / Happier the man whom fauourable ſtars / A lots thee for his louely bedfellow.
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 226Car[azie]. / In the day I waite on my Lady when ſhe eates, / Carry her pantophles, beare vp her trayne / Sing her aſleepe at night, and when ſhe pleaſes / I am her bedfellow. / Gaz[et]. / How? her bedfellow, / And lye with her? / Car[azie]. / Yes, and lye with her.
1630, Philip Massinger, The Renegado, a Tragæ Comedie. As It Hath Beene Often Acted by the Queenes Maiesties Seruants, at the Priuate Play-house in Drurye-Lane., London: […] A[ugustine] M[athewes] for Iohn Waterson, […], act III, scene IVSynonyms: bedmate, bedpartner
- broadlyAn associate, often an otherwise improbable one.
Statistics and truth can be uneasy bedfellows when it comes to football, but one fact could not be ignored: neither side has a player with more than seven goals to his name.
2011 February 12, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC2 more examples
They say that "misfortune makes men acquainted with strange bedfellows". The old hereditary Whig Cabinet ministers must, no doubt, by this time have learned to feel themselves at home with strange neighbours at their elbows.
1873, Anthony Trollope, chapter 40, in Phineas ReduxCertain aspects of reprint publishing are more akin to university press publishing than to any other sector of the publishing industry, but the relationships between the two frequently create unwilling bedfellows.
1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 8
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne with whom one shares a bed.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishbedfelawe
- Englishbedfellow
From Middle English bedfelawe, equivalent to bed + fellow. Sense 2 "associate, especially improbable" is influenced by strange bedfellow and its allusion to Shakespeare's The Tempest.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek εὖνις, ἄκοιτις
- εὖνις (eûnis)one with whom one shares a bed
- ἄκοιτις (ákoitis)one with whom one shares a bed
Bulgarian друга́р по легло́, друга́рка по легло́
- друга́р по легло́ (drugár po legló)one with whom one shares a bed
- друга́рка по легло́ (drugárka po legló)one with whom one shares a bed
- друга́рче по легло́ (drugárče po legló)one with whom one shares a bed
Danish sengekammerat
- sengekammeratone with whom one shares a bed
Dutch bedgenoot
- bedgenootone with whom one shares a bed
Finnish petikaveri, vuodetoveri
- petikaverione with whom one shares a bed
- vuodetoverione with whom one shares a bed
- petikaverian associate, often an otherwise improbable one
- aisaparian associate, often an otherwise improbable one
- vuodetoverian associate, often an otherwise improbable one
German Bettgenosse, Bettgenossin
- Bettgenosseone with whom one shares a bed
- Bettgenossinone with whom one shares a bed
Swedish sängkamrat
- sängkamratone with whom one shares a bed
Cite this entry
bedfellow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedfellow
“bedfellow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedfellow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bedfellow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedfellow.
Source: bedfellow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.