Definition of CUCKOLD

The Many Synonyms of Cuckold

One of the more glaring inequities of the English language is that it has a significantly larger number of words for “a man whose wife is unfaithful” than it does for “a woman whose man is unfaithful.” Cuckold is perhaps the best known of these words, and it has many synonyms, including (but by no means restricted to) cornute, cornuto, hoddy-doddy, hoddypoll, horn, ram, and wittol (a man who is aware of his wife’s infidelity and acquiesces to it). What of a woman whose husband is unfaithful? For that our language appears to have but a single word, and an obscure one at that: cuckquean.

Examples of cuckold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The collective heart rallied to the mortified cuckold, whose public persona shifted overnight from stud to object of pity. — Marcia Desanctis, Town & Country, "Mark Sanford, Act II," 14 Feb. 2013 Her persona on-screen was that of a glossy, almost mannequin-like sophisticate, a swan-necked beauty with high cheekbones who yearns, cuckolds and destroys with not so much as a Gallic shrug. — Adam Bernstein, Washington Post, "Stéphane Audran, acclaimed French actress of fire and ice, dies at 85," 27 Mar. 2018 Paul Sparks is Koresh’s right-hand man and cuckold Steve Schneider, with Andrea Riseborough as Judy Schneider, who gives birth to a child by Koresh. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "'Waco' review: Taylor Kitsch and Michael Shannon star in a grim Texas standoff," 25 Jan. 2018 The show presents the former as both a pimp and a cuckold, the latter as an abusive husband and — egads! — a cigarette smoker. — Christopher J. Scalia, National Review, "Must Dramatic Art Be Historically Accurate?," 10 Jan. 2018 The Walking Dead, which in the last three years has killed off almost every person of color and turned the rest into concubines and cuckolds? — Jason Johnson, The Root, "In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, John Boyega, People of Color Get to Shine in a Galaxy Far, Far Away," 15 Dec. 2017 Even Shakespeare and Chaucer cracked wise about cuckolds, who were often depicted wearing horns. — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, "Fathered by the Mailman? It’s Mostly an Urban Legend," 8 Apr. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cuckold.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.