adulterous

adjective

adul·​ter·​ous ə-ˈdəl-t(ə-)rəs 

: relating to, characterized by, or given to adultery

an adulterous affair

an adulterous wife

adulterously adverb

Synonyms

• adulterate
• adulterine
• extracurricular
• extramarital
• two-timing

Examples of adulterous in a Sentence

had an adulterous affair that nearly destroyed his marriage

Recent Examples on the Web

The aforementioned two seasons of Big Little Lies featured Kidman as Celeste Wright, a rich former lawyer and now Monterrey stay-at-home mom with an abusive, adulterous, and freshly dead husband that’s all based on a Liane Moriarty novel. —Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 13 Sep. 2024

Here, the series extends the fallout from a life-defining adulterous affair down the decades. —John Hopewell, Variety, 5 Sep. 2024

For decades, there had been adulterous movie-star romances. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2024

Sorcerers, lovers, traitors, heroes saintly or adulterous, iconic women of power. —Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 16 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration (conformed to Latin adulter "impure, given to adultery") of earlier advouterous, going back to Middle English advouterose, from avowter "given to adultery" (borrowed from Anglo-French avuiltre, avoutre, going back to Latin adulter) + -ous -ous, -ose -ose entry 1 — more at adulterer

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

adulterous

adjective

adul·​ter·​ous ə-ˈdəl-tə-rəs 

: relating to, characterized by, or given to adultery

adulterously adverb