What does cuckoldry mean?
Cuckoldry is the condition of being a cuckold — traditionally, a married man whose wife has been sexually unfaithful without his knowledge or consent. The term derives from the cuckoo, a bird notorious for laying its eggs in other birds' nests and leaving them to be raised unwittingly by the host; the deceived husband is thus likened to a bird tricked into rearing another's young. Historically, cuckoldry was a staple of European literature, especially Renaissance and Restoration comedy, where anxious husbands were mocked as figures of ridicule. In modern usage the noun survives chiefly in literary criticism, historical writing about marriage and honor, and figurative applications to any humiliating betrayal by a trusted partner. Because it foregrounds the victim's shame rather than the affair itself, the word carries a distinctly mocking, pejorative tone. Its modern derivatives remain current, though often with crude or insulting overtones in informal speech.
nounThe state or practice of a married man whose wife is unfaithful to him; more broadly, the fact of being cuckolded. It can also refer figuratively to any situation in which someone is humiliated by another's betrayal, especially one watched passively.
- The condition of being a cuckold: a married man whose wife has been unfaithful to him.
- Figuratively, any humiliating situation in which a person is deceived, betrayed, or made a fool of by a partner or associate.
- (Rare, historical/literary) The practice or custom of cuckolds collectively, as treated as a stock comic subject.
"In Restoration comedy, the threat of cuckoldry was a running joke played for laughs at the expense of jealous husbands."
"Shakespeare's comedies return again and again to the anxiety of cuckoldry, teasing husbands who suspect their wives of infidelity."
"He spoke of his business partner's secret deal as a kind of corporate cuckoldry — a betrayal carried out behind his back while he smiled for the cameras."
Usually treated as an uncountable mass noun referring to the general phenomenon; the plural is rare and appears mainly in literary criticism discussing multiple instances across texts or history.
"The anthology surveys the cuckoldries of Jacobean drama, from city comedy to revenge tragedy."
The word comes from the cuckoo — a bird that sneaks its eggs into other birds' nests and lets them raise its chicks — so calling someone a cuckold literally compares him to a bird duped into raising another's offspring.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cuckoldry
Cuckoldry derives from "cuckold," which entered English in the Middle Ages from Old French "cocu," meaning cuckoo, itself an imitation of the bird's call. The link rests on the cuckoo's habit of laying eggs in another bird's nest, so that the host raises chicks that are not its own — an apt image for a husband unknowingly raising another man's child. From this base English formed "cuckold" as both noun and verb, and "cuckoldry" emerged in the sixteenth century to denote the condition or practice of cuckolded husbands. Related forms such as "cuckoldom" appear in older literature, and the whole family traces back ultimately to the same imitative French root.
Related word forms
How cuckoldry is actually used
"Cuckoldry" is largely literary and historical in register today, appearing most often in discussions of Shakespeare, Restoration drama, or early modern social history. Because it centers on the husband's humiliation, it carries a strongly pejorative and often mocking connotation, and in contemporary slang the related word "cuckold" (often shortened to "cuck") is used as an insult online, giving the whole word family a charged, sometimes offensive flavor.
Easily confused with cuckoldry
Adultery refers to the act of voluntary sexual unfaithfulness itself, whereas cuckoldry refers specifically to the condition of the deceived husband (or the practice from his perspective), not the act of infidelity generally.
Polyandry is a socially sanctioned marriage system in which one woman has multiple husbands; cuckoldry instead denotes deception and betrayal of a husband, not an accepted marital arrangement.