adulterous
Americanadjective
adjective
-
of, characterized by, or inclined to adultery
-
an obsolete word for adulterate
Usage
What does adulterous mean? Adulterous is used to describe a person who engages in or a relationship that constitutes adultery—a consensual sexual relationship or encounter between someone who’s married and a person they’re not married to (who may or may not be married to someone else).In other words, adultery can be between two people who are both married to other people, or between a married person and a nonmarried person. Typically, for something to be considered adulterous, at least one of the partners must be married.On the other hand, similar words like cheating, infidelity, and unfaithfulness can be used regardless of whether either person is married—they simply refer to a (usually sexual) relationship or encounter between people when one or both of them is in a committed relationship with someone else.When it happens with someone other than one’s spouse, a long-term relationship (often called an affair), a single sexual encounter, or anything in between can be considered adulterous. In some cases, a relationship may even be considered adulterous when it’s nonsexual but intimate (this is sometimes called an emotional affair).The words adultery and adulterous are especially used in a religious context, in which adultery is often considered a sin. The word adultery is also sometimes used in a legal context, such as during divorce proceedings.Adultery is associated with a considerable amount of stigma. The word adulterous is always used negatively and implies a critical judgment of such actions.Someone who participates in adultery can be called an adulterer. The word adulteress specifically refers to a woman who has engaged in adultery. (It has been more common throughout history for women to be called adulterous and to be blamed and punished for adulterous relationships than men.)Example: Just because it only happened once doesn’t mean it wasn’t adulterous.
Other Word Forms
- adulterously adverb
- unadulterous adjective
- unadulterously adverb
Etymology
Origin of adulterous
First recorded in 1400–50; adulter(y) + -ous; replacing late Middle English avoutrious, advouterose
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Townsend’s speech as Matthews, he also notes two sources of pain that have made him a better artist: his adulterous fiancée and selfish brother.
From Los Angeles Times
His popular characters, including an entitled fraternity brother, an agitated airport security agent and an adulterous warehouse worker, helped him amass millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok.
From New York Times
The ensemble cast features the Oscar-winning performances of Cloris Leachman as Ruth Popper, the adulterous wife of the high school sports coach and Ben Johnson as Sam the Lion, the town’s popular businessman.
From Washington Times
In 1798, he commissioned James Callender, a notorious scandalmonger who had recently broken the story on Hamilton’s adulterous affair with Maria Reynolds, to write a libelous attack on Adams.
From Literature
Pretty much the only element is a huge pipe, half painted white, half black, hanging over the action, perhaps a symbol of the fate that never quite falls on the adulterous, power-hungry leads.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
