adulterer
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does adulterer mean? An adulterer is someone who engages in 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). Typically, for something to be considered adultery, at least one of the partners must be married. In other words, the adulterers can be two people who are both married to other people, or a married person and a nonmarried person. In any case, the word adulterer can be applied to both people in the adulterous relationship (not just the one who’s married). On the other hand, calling someone unfaithful or saying that they cheated means that they engaged in a (usually sexual) relationship while they or the other person (or both) were in a committed relationship with someone else—not necessarily marriage. 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 to constitute adultery. In some cases, a relationship may even be considered adultery when it’s nonsexual but intimate (this is sometimes called an emotional affair). The word adultery is especially used in a religious context, in which it’s often considered a sin. It’s also sometimes used in a legal context, such as during divorce proceedings. Adultery is a crime in some places (including in some U. S. states, though people aren’t often charged for it). Adultery is associated with a considerable amount of stigma. The word adulterer is always used negatively and implies a critical judgment of such actions. The word adulterer can refer to a person of any gender. The word adulteress, though, specifically refers to a woman who has engaged in adultery. (It has been more common throughout history for women to be blamed—and punished—for adulterous relationships than men.)Example: He’s a serial adulterer who doesn’t even attempt to hide his affairs.
Etymology
Origin of adulterer
1350–1400; earlier adulter adulterer (< Latin, back formation from adulterāre to defile; adulterate ) + -er 1; replacing Middle English avouter, avoutrer < Old French < Latin
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.
Accusations that Nash was an antisemite, adulterer and homophobe began to appear in reviews, gossip sites and news articles, prompting him to appear on “60 Minutes” to refute the claims.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025
He was the pastor of First Baptist Church in the town of Luverne, Ala., which meant he was the moral leader of a congregation that overwhelmingly supported a president who was an alleged adulterer.
From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2018
The married man told sheriff’s deputies he was asleep when he was accused of being an adulterer and feared the Enumclaw man was going to fight him.
From Seattle Times • May 30, 2018
In “Access to the Children,” a remorseful adulterer is becoming estranged from his children, unable to understand why.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2016
There were things about him that I needed to be true, and his being an adulterer was not one of them.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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.
