as in cheating
a sexual encounter or relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse
adultery is the cause of many divorces
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Recent Examples of adultery
The faith is rooted in the Vedas, an ancient Hindu scripture and prescribes the five lifetime vows: no alcohol, no addictions, no adultery, no meat and no impurity of body and mind.
—
James Powel, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2025
Under Taliban rule, morality laws are strictly enforced, and activities considered immoral or against Islamic principles—such as pornography, adultery, or LGBTQ+ content—are harshly punished.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
Discrimination, lying, adultery, name -calling, belittling others, punching people and ignoring the poor, sick and elderly are now the accepted values of those who were concerned about the nation’s moral decline.
—Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025
At the time of the case, Bryant admitted to adultery with a 19-year-old resort hotel worker in Colorado but denied the rape allegations, always maintaining that the encounter was consensual.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 8 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adultery
James Powel, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2025
Under Taliban rule, morality laws are strictly enforced, and activities considered immoral or against Islamic principles—such as pornography, adultery, or LGBTQ+ content—are harshly punished.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
Discrimination, lying, adultery, name -calling, belittling others, punching people and ignoring the poor, sick and elderly are now the accepted values of those who were concerned about the nation’s moral decline.
—Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025
At the time of the case, Bryant admitted to adultery with a 19-year-old resort hotel worker in Colorado but denied the rape allegations, always maintaining that the encounter was consensual.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 8 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for adultery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adultery
Noun
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Nor is either party actually addressing the ballooning financial cost of local police forces in the U.S., nor the long-term reputational costs from police misconduct for trust in the police and government more broadly.—
Christopher S. Warshaw,
The Conversation,
18 Apr. 2025
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Court records show he was then indicted in June 2020 for misconduct in office.—
Will Carless,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Huston could recognize the ways of that brood: her own renowned and eccentric family inhabited that domestic world of privilege, power, infidelity, and intrigue that became Christie’s writerly milieu.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
15 Apr. 2025
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The exciting news comes after a tumultuous few months for Coi, who kicked off 2025 by announcing a child with Trippie before accusing him of infidelity.—
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady,
Billboard,
15 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Adultery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adultery. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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