adultery
/əˈdʌltəɹi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.41 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their spouse. See more synonyms at Thesaurus:cuckoldry
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the sixth/seventh commandment; sinful sexual behavior as a category.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The fine and penalty formerly imposed for the offence of adultery.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "She engaged in adultery because her spouse has a low libido, while hers is very high."
- "So also that copulation which in one City is Matrimony, in another will be judged Adultery."
- "Under modern statutory law, some courts hold that the unmarried participant isn't guilty of adultery (that only the married participant is)"
- "Ironically, the detergent industry-sponsored "soap operas" that are central to modern afternoon television programming promise (mostly) female viewers both relief from drudgery and escape into the dramatic, crisis-filled on-air world of (laundryless) marriages, adulteries, and other relationships."
- "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
- "And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks."
Etymology
With change of suffix, from the Old French adultere (“violation of conjugal faith”) (in Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, 12c.), a learnèd borrowing from Latin adulterium, from adulterō. Replaced the older form avoutrie, from the inherited Old French forms avouterie or aoulterie, while keeping its suffix. Compare French adultère (“adultery”). Displaced Old English ǣwbryċe. Not related to adult.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂el- (other), -, adulterium
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
commit adultery
criminal conversation