Dictionary

infidelity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌɪnfɪˈdɛlɪti/

Etymology

From Middle English infidelite, from Middle French infidelité (modern French infidélité) and its etymon Latin īnfidēlitās. Equivalent to infidel + -ity.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Unfaithfulness in a marriage or an intimate (sexual or romantic) relationship: practice or instance of having a sexual or romantic affair with someone other than one's spouse, without the consent of the spouse.
   • Your friends tell you rumors about your girlfriend's infidelity or you remember being broken up around the time the baby was conceived. 2013, William G. Staples, Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility, →ISBN, page 155:
2. (countable, uncountable) Unfaithfulness in some other moral obligation.
   • It was disastrous that England's infidelity towards Frederick the Great — which no one, not even a German, condemned more strongly than did William Pitt — had to affect one of the most popular heroes of our national history. 1937, Arnold Oskar Meyer, England in German opinion throughout the centuries, page 6:
3. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Lack of religious belief.
   • The means used to this purpose are partly didactical, and partly protreptical; demonstrating the truth of the gospel, and then urging the professors of those truths to be stedfast^([sic]) in the faith, and to beware of infidelity. 1674, Seth Ward, Seven Sermons:
   • The Churchman remarked that such incidents arose from the growing infidelity, while the Freethinker saw in them a reversion to superstition. 1926, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Land of Mist:

Forms

Antonyms

faithfulness (antonym(s) of “moral”) · loyalty (antonym(s) of “moral”) · fidelity (antonym(s) of “moral”)

Relateds

nullifidianism · low fidelity · infidel · unfaithfulness

Synonyms

irreligion · faithlessness (religious) · betrayal (moral) · Synonyms: adultery (marital)

Translations (55)

fi uskottomuus (lack of religious belief) · gl infidelidade (lack of religious belief) · nl ontrouw (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · sh nevjernost (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · gl infidelidade (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ga ainchreideamh (lack of religious belief) · tr ihanet (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · hu hitetlenség (lack of religious belief) · hu hűtlenség (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · sk nevera (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · be няве́рнасць (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ota كفر (lack of religious belief) · ar خِيَانَة (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · fi uskottomuus (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ar زَنْدَقَة (lack of religious belief) · ro infidelitate (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · pt infidelidade (lack of religious belief) · mk неверство (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · nb utroskap (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · pt infidelidade (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ca infidelitat (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ca infidelitat (lack of religious belief) · fr infidélité (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ru неве́рность (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · sl nezvestoba (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ru безбо́жие (lack of religious belief) · ru неве́рие (lack of religious belief) · pl niewiara (lack of religious belief) · pl niewierność (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · cs nevíra (lack of religious belief) · uk неві́рність (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ru безве́рие (lack of religious belief) · sh nevernost (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · bg невя́рност (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ga mídhílseacht (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ota زنا (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · mk неверност (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · tr aldatma (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ga éigreideamh (lack of religious belief) · gd neo-chreidmheachd (lack of religious belief) · cmn 異心 /异心 (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ast infidelidá (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · ar كُفْر (lack of religious belief) · hu pogányság (lack of religious belief) · sh неверност (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · de Untreue (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · gd adhaltranas (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · gv anchredjuaght (lack of religious belief) · nl areligieus (lack of religious belief) · es infidelidad (lack of religious belief) · cmn 不貞 /不贞 (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · sv otrohet (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · cs nevěra (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · es infidelidad (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation) · sh невјерност (unfaithfulness in marriage or other moral obligation)

wikidata: Q58721