cuckold

American  

[kuhk-uhld] / ˈkʌk əld /

noun

1. the husband of an unfaithful wife.

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verb (used with object)

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

cuckold British  

/ ˈkʌkəld /

noun

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

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verb

1. (tr) to make a cuckold of

Other Word Forms

• cuckoldly adverb
• cuckoldry noun

Etymology

Origin of cuckold

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

Example Sentences

As it is, Affleck is left with little to play but a sorry, perpetually glum cuckold.

From New York Times

His affinity for theatrical misdirection and mystery was acknowledged by his friend, the playwright Anthony Shaffer, who based the cunningly vengeful cuckold in his play “Sleuth” partly on Mr. Sondheim.

From New York Times

Indeed, the common cuckoo is so notorious for forcing other birds to raise its young that the term "cuckold" was coined to refer to husbands of unfaithful wives.

From Salon

Smiley is thus an anti-James Bond, an unheroic, frequently cuckolded secret agent who looks like a shy and miserable clerk in an old London bank.

From New York Times

But if caring fish fathers were being cuckolded too often, she says, they would pass on their genes so sparsely that their behavior would die out altogether.

From New York Times

Related Words

• cuck