cuckold

[kuhk-uhld]

noun

1. the husband of an unfaithful wife.

verb (used with object)

1. to make a cuckold of (a husband).

cuckold

/ ˈkʌkəld /

noun

1. a man whose wife has committed adultery, often regarded as an object of scorn

verb

1. (tr) to make a cuckold of

Other Word Forms

• cuckoldly adverb
• cuckoldry noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cuckold¹

1200–50; Middle English cukeweld, later cok ( k ) ewold, cukwold < Anglo-French *cucuald (compare Middle French cucuault ), equivalent to Old French cocu cuckoo + -ald, -alt pejorative suffix ( ribald ); apparently originally applied to an adulterer, in allusion to the cuckoo's habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests

Word History and Origins

Origin of cuckold¹

C13 cukeweld, from Old French cucuault, from cucu _cuckoo ; perhaps an allusion to the parasitic cuckoos that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds

Example Sentences

Sometimes compared to Game of Thrones, it features airborne fights, cuckolds, births, breakups and earthquakes, courtesy of its stars - the peregrine falcons who live at the top of a Melbourne skyscraper.

Read more on BBC

Popular among the far right and the gutters of social media, the term is used to insult liberals as weak and is also short for “cuckold,” which refers to the husband of an unfaithful wife.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It is also short for “cuckold,” the husband of an unfaithful wife.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A member of a traveling theater troupe, Paul has been abandoned in a small-town hospital after a cuckolded husband conked him on the head.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His small, pressured crew viewed those incest victims and cuckolded spouses as fresh meat for their sausage grinder.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• cuck