Meaning & use
infidelity
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Unfaithfulness to a spouse or partner, especially by having a secret romantic or sexual relationship with someone else.
Grammar: Uncountable for the idea (infidelity is painful), countable for an incident (one infidelity).
Patterns
- infidelity to someone
- accuse someone of infidelity
Her husband's infidelity ended the marriage.
The singer denied rumors of infidelity.
Counselors say trust can sometimes recover from infidelity.
noununcountableformal
A failure to stay loyal to a person, cause, group or belief.
Grammar: Uncountable and rather formal: infidelity to a principle.
Patterns
- infidelity to something
He regarded the change of party as an infidelity to his principles.
The translator was accused of infidelity to the original text.
Her infidelity to the cause shocked her old friends.
Word forms
| plural | infidelities |
|---|
Common combinations
- marital infidelity
- Marital infidelity was the main cause of their divorce.
- accuse of infidelity
- He accused his wife of infidelity without proof.
- suspect infidelity
- She began to suspect infidelity when he came home late.
- confess to infidelity
- He confessed to infidelity during the counseling session.
- a single infidelity
- A single infidelity broke their trust.
Synonyms and how they differ
- adultery
- Adultery is narrower and refers to a married person's sexual act, and is also a legal and religious term.
- unfaithfulness
- Unfaithfulness is the plain, everyday word that matches infidelity but sounds less formal.
- cheating
- Cheating is informal and can be used of exams and games as well as relationships.
- betrayal
- Betrayal is wider and covers any breaking of trust, not just romantic.
Opposites
Word family
- infidel noun
- a person who does not hold a given religion, an old and offensive term
- unfaithful adjective
- not loyal, especially to a partner
- fidelity noun
- faithfulness or loyalty
- faithless adjective
- disloyal or lacking faith
Commonly confused: infidelity or infidel?
infidelity vs infidel
Infidel is an old term for an unbeliever and can be offensive, and it is not the person who commits infidelity.
Practice
The couple went to counseling after the husband's ___ was discovered.
Choose one answer.
Infidelity means unfaithfulness to a partner. Fidelity is the opposite and would not cause a couple to seek counseling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infidelity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.