Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):
   • To engage in sexual activity with multiple partners, often in a casual or serial manner, without a commitment to a single partner. This term implies moving from one sexual partner to another.

Usage

• The verb "bed-hop" describes the action or behavior of a person who has multiple sexual partners. It is often used in a disapproving or judgmental context to criticize perceived promiscuity.
• It is an intransitive verb; it does not take a direct object. You cannot "bed-hop someone." The action is described as something the subject does.
• It is typically used in the simple present, present continuous, or past tenses to describe habitual or repeated behavior.

Examples

• Verb:
  • After his divorce, he started to bed-hop, never staying with one person for more than a few weeks.
  • The tabloid newspaper accused the celebrity of bed-hopping throughout the summer.
  • She grew tired of the dating scene and vowed to stop bed-hopping.

Advanced Usage

• The term is informal and carries a strong negative connotation. It is more judgmental than neutral synonyms like "see multiple people" or "have multiple partners."
• It is often used in gossip, tabloid journalism, or moralistic commentary.

Variants and Related Words

• Bed-hopper (noun): A person who bed-hops.
  • He gained a reputation as a notorious bed-hopper.
• Hop (verb): While "hop" alone means to jump, in this compound it contributes the sense of moving quickly and lightly from one thing to another.

Synonyms

• Sleep around (phrasal verb): To have casual sex with many different people. This is a very close synonym.
• Philander (verb): (Typically used for men) To have many casual sexual relationships.
• Womanize / Manize (verb): To engage in many casual sexual affairs with women/men.

Antonyms

• Be faithful / Be monogamous (verb phrases): To be sexually exclusive to one partner.
• Be celibate (verb phrase): To abstain from sexual activity.

Related Phrases / Idioms

• Play the field (idiom): To date or have romantic involvements with more than one person at a time. This is less explicitly sexual and can imply dating rather than sexual activity.
  • He's not ready to settle down; he's still playing the field.

Verb

1. be sexually active with more than one partner
   • His wife bed hops