Meanings
nounstrange bedfellows pl (normally plural, singular strange bedfellow)
singular strange bedfellow
- idiomaticpluralplural normallyAn unusual combination or political alliance.
Lacan and feminism: strange bedfellows? There never was an alliance between the person Lacan and feminism.
2002, Teresa Brennan, Between Feminism and Psychoanalysis, Routledge, →ISBN1 more example
The USA and the USSR were strange bedfellows. They were united only in their opposition to Hitler and Fascism.
1996, Tony Downey, Nigel Smith, Russia and the USSR, 1900-1995, Oxford University Press, USA, →ISBN, page 66
Origin
1610, from Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Estonian ootamatud liitlased
- ootamatud liitlasedunusual combination or political alliance
Russian неожи́данные сою́зники, стра́нные компаньо́ны
- неожи́данные сою́зники (neožídannyje sojúzniki)unusual combination or political alliance
- стра́нные компаньо́ны (stránnyje kompanʹóny)unusual combination or political alliance
Cite this entry
APA
strange bedfellows. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strange%20bedfellows
MLA
“strange bedfellows.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strange%20bedfellows. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “strange bedfellows,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/strange%20bedfellows.
Source: strange bedfellows on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.