adultery Hear it!

adultery Definition

adul·tery (ə dul′tər ē)

noun pl. -·ter·ies

voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and a woman not his wife, or between a married woman and a man not her husband

Etymology: L adulterium < adulter: see adulterate

adultery Synonyms

adultery

n.

unlicensed intercourse, infidelity, cuckoldry, extramarital affair; see fornication.

adultery Law Definition

n

The voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than his or her spouse. The consent of both parties and penetration are required for adultery to exist. Under the common law, only a married woman could commit adultery, but most states now apply the term to married men as well. Also, in the states where adultery is still a crime, most statutes now provide that the unmarried sexual partner of a married person can also be charged with the offense. See also criminal conversation, fornication, and rape.
adultery Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • commit: People no longer commit adultery; they fool around or have a fling.
  • marry: And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
  • admit: The seventh commandment is Thou shalt not admit adultery.
  • prove: Proving adultery is no longer necessary for a court to grant a divorce.
  • include: It means illicit sexual sin of every kind, including adultery.
  • cite: I am going to cite adultery which she is begrudgingly agreeing to.

Preposition: as

  • ground: The absences of a consummation requirement and of adultery as a specific ground of dissolution do open up some possibilities but are not unproblematic.

Adjective modifier

  • committeth: And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
  • vile: He is the faithful husband who will not give up on his wife for all her vile adultery.
  • committed: Perhaps a mother committed adultery that resulted in a child.
  • spiritual: At the very least, spiritual adultery is encouraged by the " season.
  • alleged: After Ann and her brother had been beheaded for alleged adultery the castle was appropriated by the Crown.
  • own: You are right when you say that you cannot petition based upon your own adultery.

Modifies a noun

  • case: If a third person is mentioned, as in an adultery case, that person is called the co- respondent.
  • story: My stock reply was: ' Isn't it striking that the film that won all the Oscars was an adultery story?

Possessives

  • wife: Or did he connive with his wife's adultery to further his own career?
  • word: He doesn't choose ' fornication ' , He chooses the word ' adultery ' .
  • husband: Inevitably there will be some readers who think Someone at a Distance is just the story of a suburban husband's adultery.

Preposition: with

  • woman: On 14 April last year, Alex divorced him on the grounds of admitted adultery with another woman.
  • man: She had been found guilty of committing adultery with 5 men: they also were executed.
adultery Quotes

Do not adultery commit; Advantage rarely comes of it.

—Clough, Arthur Hugh

The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.

—Updike,John Hoyer

I have looked on a lot of women with lust. I have committed adultery in my heart many times.God recognizes I will do that, and forgives me.

—Carter,Jimmy (James Earl)

I was told when a young man that the two occupational hazards of the Palace of Varieties were alcohol and adultery. The hurroosh that follows the intermittent revelation of the sexual goings-on of an unlucky MP has convinced me that the only safe pleasure for a parliamentarian is a bag of boiled sweets.

—Critchley, SirJulian Michael Gordon

Mr Sammler with his screwy visions! He saw the increasing triumph of EnlightenmentöLiberty, Equality, Adultery!

—Bellow, Saul

Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any mancanpursue; it needs anunceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit.It cannot, like adulteryor gluttony, be practised at spare moments; it is a whole- time job.

—Maugham,W(illiam) Somerset

What men call gallantry, and gods adultery, Is much more common where the climate's sultry.

—Rochdale

There are few who would not rather be taken in adultery than in provincialism.

—Huxley, Aldous Leonard

Sara could commit adulteryat one end and weep for her sins at the other, and enjoy both at once.

—Cary, (Arthur) Joyce Lunel

And God spake all these words, saying,Iamthe L thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that isinheaven above, or that isin the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the L thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thoushalt nottakethename of the L thy God invain; for the L will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember thesabbath day, to keep it holy. Six daysthou shalt labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the L thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the L made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the L blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long uponthelandwhichtheL thy Godgiveththee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you. That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

—Bible (NewTestament)