adultery

adul·tery

noun \ə-ˈdəl-t(ə-)rē\

plural adul·ter·ies

Definition of ADULTERY

: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also : an act of adultery

Examples of ADULTERY

1. He found out that his wife had committed adultery.
2. She accused her husband of adultery.

Origin of ADULTERY

Middle English, alteration of avoutrie, from Anglo-French avulterie, from Latin adulterium, from adulter adulterer, back-formation from adulterare

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to ADULTERY

Synonyms: cheating, infidelity, misconduct, two-timing, unfaithfulness

Antonyms: faithfulness, fidelity

Related Words: criminal conversation; free love, promiscuity; disloyalty, faithlessness, falseness, inconstancy, perfidiousness, perfidy, treachery; affair (also affaire), amour, fling, love, love affair, romance; intrigue; attachment, infatuation; entanglement, flirtation; liaison, passion

Near Antonyms: allegiance, constancy, dedication, devotedness, devotion, fealty, loyalty, steadfastness

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Other Sociology Terms

bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture