Meaning & use
cuckold
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashionedliterarydisapproving
A husband whose wife has had a secret affair with another man.
Grammar: Mostly seen in older writing and plays, not in everyday talk.
Patterns
- a cuckold
In the old comedy, the cuckold is the last to learn the truth.
The playwright mocked a jealous cuckold in his farce.
The character is a cuckold who stays blind to his wife's affair.
verbtransitivearchaicliterary
To have an affair with another man's wife.
Grammar: Takes the husband as its object; rare and archaic.
Patterns
- cuckold someone
The story tells how a young lord cuckolded his rival.
In the ballad, a squire cuckolds the old knight.
He feared that his friend had cuckolded him.
Word forms
| plural | cuckolds |
|---|---|
| third person singular | cuckolds |
| past tense | cuckolded |
| -ing form | cuckolding |
Common combinations
- a jealous cuckold
- The jealous cuckold stormed through the house.
- cuckold a husband
- The tale tells of a man who cuckolds a husband.
- play the cuckold
- The farce makes the old merchant play the cuckold.
- a cuckolded husband
- A cuckolded husband is a common figure in comedy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- betrayed husband
- This is a plain modern phrase with none of the mocking tone that cuckold carries.
- deceived husband
- This stresses that the husband was kept in the dark, without the old-fashioned flavor of cuckold.
- dupe
- A dupe is anyone easily fooled, not only in marriage, so it is far broader than cuckold.
Word family
Commonly confused: cuckold or cuckoo?
cuckold vs cuckoo
A cuckoo is a bird, and cuckoo can also mean silly; it is related in origin to cuckold but means something different.
Practice
In the old farce, the foolish merchant is a ___ who never notices his wife's affair.
Choose one answer.
A cuckold is a husband betrayed by his wife's affair. A coxcomb is a vain man, a courtier serves a king, and a cavalier is a gallant knight.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cuckold”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.