adultery
Definition of adultery
adulteries
: 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
From the M-W Editors
Examples of adultery in a Sentence
He found out that his wife had committed adultery.
She accused her husband of adultery.
Recent Examples of adultery from the Web
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Karma has come full circle for the adultery-enabling website Ashley Madison.
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The video also included footage of stonings, beheadings, and amputations for charges like theft, drug dealing, and adultery.
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Fatima still has nightmares about the time she was forced, along with several other captive girls, to stone a couple to death for the sin of committing adultery.
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Rachel was absent from the proceedings, and the 12-person jury found her guilty of abandoning her husband and living in adultery with another man.
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Composed by J.L. Molloy and G. Clifton Bingham in 1884, the song serves as a recurring reminder of adultery.
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Kidnapping, cross-dressing, and adultery combine in this madcap comedy, written by rearranging thousands of snippets cut from the plays of William Shakespeare into a new plot.
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There was the dark humor of series writer David E. Kelley juxtaposed with storylines that explored taboo topics like adultery and spousal abuse.
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In 1536, England’s King Henry VIII married his third wife, Jane Seymour, 11 days after the king’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded for treason and adultery.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adultery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
What’s the difference between adultery and fornication?
In case you were wondering, the words adultery and adult are not etymologically related (in other words, adultery didn’t grow out of adult in the way that punditry grew out of pundit). Although both words come from Latin and share the same first five letters, adultery is from adulterāre (“to pollute, defile, commit adultery”), a word formed ultimately from the Latin elements ad- “to, near” and alter “other.” English adult comes from adultus, which is the past participle of the Latin word adolescere (“to grow up”).
In legal use there is a difference between adultery and fornication. Adultery is only used when at least one of the parties involved (either male or female) is married, whereas fornication may be used to describe two people who are unmarried (to each other or anyone else) engaging in consensual sexual intercourse.
Origin and Etymology of adultery
Middle English, alteration of avoutrie, from Anglo-French avulterie, from Latin adulterium, from adulter adulterer, back-formation from adulterare —see 1adulterate
Other Sociology Terms
ADULTERY Defined for English Language Learners
adultery
Definition of adultery for English Language Learners
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: sex between a married person and someone who is not that person's wife or husband
Law Dictionary
adultery
Legal Definition of adultery
: voluntary sexual activity (as sexual intercourse) between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also : the crime of adultery — compare fornication
Learn More about adultery
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for adultery Spanish Central: Translation of adultery Nglish: Translation of adultery for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of adultery for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about adultery
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