cuckold
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
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 ( see ribald); apparently originally applied to an adulterer, in allusion to the cuckoo's habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests
Explanation
A cuckold is a man who has been betrayed by his wife. If your wife cuckolds you, she is cheating on you with a different man. This is an old-fashioned word you can find in many Shakespeare plays, though cuckolding is certainly older than Shakespeare and will always exist as long as there are marriages. A man can't cuckold a woman: only a wife can cuckold her husband. By sleeping with another man, she makes her husband a cuckold.
Vocabulary lists containing cuckold
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Twelfth Night
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Much Ado About Nothing
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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.
The latest offering from Avi Buffalo’s new album At Best Cuckold finds Avi Zahner-Isenberg operating in a teeny-weeny upper range that suits his sweet, sensitive songwriting style.
From The Guardian • Aug. 6, 2014
Elsewhere in Brazil, voters are being urged to cast ballots for candidates with names like Daniel the Cuckold and Elvis Didn’t Die.
From New York Times • Sep. 17, 2012
A prime example is the set originally designed by Liubov Popova for Meyerhold's 1922 production of Fernand Crommelynck's play The Magnificent Cuckold.
From Time Magazine Archive
As soon as feasible, Arthur of Britain, or The Magnanimous Cuckold, will be staged at Stratford, Ont.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Picture, or the Cuckold in Conceit, a Comedy in one act, by Js.
From Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband by Molière
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.
