If a married person commits adultery, they have sex with someone that they are not married to.
She is going to divorce him on the grounds of adultery.
Synonyms: unfaithfulness, infidelity, cheating [informal], fornication More Synonyms of adultery
adultery in British English
(əˈdʌltərɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-teries
voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man or woman and a partner other than the legal spouse
Word origin
C15: adulterie, altered (as if directly from Latin adulterium) from C14 avoutrie, via Old French from Latin adulterium, from adulter, back formation from adulterāre. See adulterate
adultery in American English
(əˈdʌltəri)
nounWord forms: plural -teries
voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his orher lawful spouse
Word origin
[1325–75; ME adulterie ‹ L adulterium, equiv. to adulter ( see adulterer) + -ium-ium; r. ME a(d)vouterie ‹ OF avoutrie ‹ L, with ad-ad- r. aa-5]
Quotations
Do not adultery commit Advantage rarely comes of itArthur Hugh CloughThe Latest Decalogue
It is not marriage but a mockery of it, a merging that mixes love and dread together like jackstrawsAlexander TherouxAn Adultery
Adultery is the application of democracy to loveH.L. Mencken
The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage developJohn UpdikeCouples
Chinese translation of 'adultery'
adultery
(əˈdʌltərɪ)
n(u)
通奸(姦) (tōngjiān)
to commit adultery有通奸(姦)行为(為) (yǒu tōngjiān xíngwéi)
Nearby words of
adultery
adrift
ADT
adult
adultery
adulthood
advance
advance booking
Related terms of
adultery
to commit adultery
(noun)
Definition
sexual unfaithfulness of a husband or wife
She is going to divorce him on the grounds of adultery.
Synonyms
unfaithfulness
infidelity
I divorced him for infidelity.
cheating (informal)
fornication
Adultery and fornication are no longer crimes.
playing the field (slang)
extramarital sex
playing away from home (slang)
illicit sex
unchastity
extramarital relations
extracurricular sex (informal)
extramarital congress
having an affair or a fling
Opposites
fidelity
,
chastity
,
faithfulness
Quotations
Do not adultery commit Advantage rarely comes of it [Arthur Hugh Clough – The Latest Decalogue]It is not marriage but a mockery of it, a merging that mixes love and dread together like jackstraws [Alexander Theroux – An Adultery]Adultery is the application of democracy to love [H.L. Mencken]The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop [John Updike – Couples]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fornication
Definition
voluntary sexual intercourse outside marriage
Adultery and fornication are no longer crimes.
Synonyms
adultery,
infidelity,
unfaithfulness,
extra-marital congress or relations or sex,
living in sin,
extra-curricular sex (informal),
pre-marital congress or relations or sex
in the sense of infidelity
Definition
sexual unfaithfulness to one's husband, wife, or lover