Meaning & use
committing adultery
Last updated
“committing adultery” is a form of “commit adultery”.
Meaning
phraseintransitiveformallegalreligion
Having sex with someone who is not your husband, wife, or official partner, when you are married or in a committed relationship.
Grammar: This is the -ing form of 'commit adultery'; it does not take an object. Say 'committing adultery', not 'committing adultery someone'.
Patterns
- be accused of committing adultery
- admit to committing adultery
- be guilty of committing adultery
The king was accused of committing adultery with a courtier's wife.
In some countries, committing adultery is still a crime.
She filed for divorce after discovering her husband had been committing adultery for years.
Common combinations
- accused of committing adultery
- The politician was accused of committing adultery and had to resign.
- admit to committing adultery
- He finally admitted to committing adultery during their marriage.
- be guilty of committing adultery
- Under the old law, a person could be guilty of committing adultery and face punishment.
- caught committing adultery
- She was caught committing adultery and the scandal ruined her reputation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- being unfaithful
- A more general and less formal way to describe having a sexual relationship outside your marriage or partnership.
- having an affair
- Often suggests an ongoing romantic and sexual relationship with someone else; 'committing adultery' is the legal or religious term.
- cheating
- Informal and broad; it can refer to any kind of betrayal, not just sexual, while 'committing adultery' is specifically about sex outside marriage.
Opposites
Word family
- adultery noun
- The act of having sex with someone who is not your spouse.
- adulterer noun
- A person who commits adultery (usually a man).
- adulteress noun
- A woman who commits adultery (old-fashioned).
- adulterous adjective
- Involving adultery, as in 'an adulterous relationship'.
Commonly confused: committing adultery or fornication?
committing adultery vs fornication
In religious law, 'fornication' is sex between unmarried people; 'adultery' involves at least one married person.
Practice
He was accused of ______ adultery with his colleague's wife.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'commit adultery', so the -ing form is 'committing adultery'. 'Do', 'make', and 'have' do not collocate with 'adultery' in this legal/religious sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “committing adultery”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.