as in extramarital
relating to or being a sexual encounter or relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse had an adulterous affair that nearly destroyed his marriage

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adulterous Nor did anyone blink when Shonda Rhimes set Scandal within the White House of a wishy-washy, adulterous GOP President who’d unwittingly stolen an election. Judy Berman, TIME, 20 Feb. 2025 The aforementioned two seasons of Big Little Lies featured Kidman as Celeste Wright, a rich former lawyer and now Monterrey stay-at-home mom with an abusive, adulterous, and freshly dead husband that’s all based on a Liane Moriarty novel. Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 13 Sep. 2024 Sorcerers, lovers, traitors, heroes saintly or adulterous, iconic women of power. Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 16 July 2024 The new version strips down the book’s narrative, concentrating on the plight of an adulterous airline pilot (Cage) who’s forced to land a plane after all the good Christians are called up to heaven. Emily Heller, Vulture, 12 July 2024 See All Example Sentences for adulterous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adulterous
Adjective
  • Below, see the celebrity couples whose relationships started as controversial extramarital affairs.
    Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Meanwhile, a debonair and nonchalant judge, Roland Brack (Nicholas Pinnock), who has arranged George’s loan for the expensive property, is also dallying with Hedda and plots to use his influence—his power, rather—to tighten their extramarital bond.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This means, cutting back on takeout and cooking more at home, pausing a couple extracurricular activities, and cutting all discretionary shopping.
    Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The district also seeks a maintenance and operations budget override of 15% for full-day kindergarten, class sizes, art and music programs, career and technical education programs, athletics, extracurricular activities, teacher and staff salaries and professional development.
    Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 17 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Adulterous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adulterous. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

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