adulterous

[ uh-duhl-ter-uh s ]

/ əˈdʌl tər əs /

characterized by or involved in adultery; illicit: an adulterous relationship.

Origin of adulterous

1400–50; adulter(y) + -ous; replacing late Middle English avoutrious

a·dul·ter·ous·ly, adverb un·a·dul·ter·ous, adjective un·a·dul·ter·ous·ly, adverb

There are long books and ongoing debates about whether the personal lives of adulterous politicians should be held against them.

How One Louisiana Republican Survived a Sex Scandal (and Another Might Not) |Ben Jacobs |April 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Her novel, a fictionalized take on her Left Bank intellectual circle, centers on an adulterous woman torn between two men.

9 Works Inspired by Writers’ Love Lives |Joni Rendon, Shannon McKenna Schmidt |February 14, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
An adulterous affair could be used as blackmail if it fell into the hands of a foreign intelligence service.

Alleged Petraeus Mistress Suggested She Was Privy to State Secrets |Eli Lake |November 12, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
To further explicate the obvious: “Uncommon”—i.e., adulterous—“arrangements vary hugely.”

Do We Need a Guide to Marriage? |Chloë Schama |January 8, 2011 |DAILY BEAST

A conservative president launched two wars, and conservatives tried to impeach the adulterous Bill Clinton.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Turncoats |Linda Hirshman |December 1, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
John, bold in this as in all things, so old writers say, told the adulterous couple what he thought of them.

A Layman's Life of Jesus |Samuel H. M. Byers
The sphere of adulterous love ascends from hell, and the sphere of conjugial love descends from heaven.

The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love |Emanuel Swedenborg
Such also is the way of an adulterous woman, who eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil.

The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version |Various
The quality of adulterous love is not known, unless it be known what is the quality of conjugial love, 424.

The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love |Emanuel Swedenborg
It 's an adulterous beast who thinks of mixing old wine with anything.'

Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete |George Meredith

adulterous

/ (əˈdʌltərəs) /

of, characterized by, or inclined to adultery

an obsolete word for adulterate (def. 2)

adulterously, adverb