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

Nor did anyone blink when Shonda Rhimes set Scandal within the White House of a wishy-washy, adulterous GOP President who’d unwittingly stolen an election. —Judy Berman, TIME, 20 Feb. 2025

The new version strips down the book’s narrative, concentrating on the plight of an adulterous airline pilot (Cage) who’s forced to land a plane after all the good Christians are called up to heaven. —Emily Heller, Vulture, 12 July 2024

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

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