Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Infidelity |
InfidelityNoun1. The quality of being unfaithful. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "infidelity" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In a religious context, infidelity is lack of the faith that a religion requires; one who lacks such faith is an infidel.According to recent usages, infidelity or unfaithfulness usually means failure to fulfill a tacit or explicit sexual commitment, usually to monogamy, although in polyamorous relationships the commitment is generally to the group.
Different couples (or groups) -- and even different individuals -- may have different ideas of what constitutes infidelity. For example, a person may not want his or her partner flirting with anyone else, may accept that but draw the line at petting, may be comfortable with anything short of sexual intercourse, or something in between; additionally, a heterosexual may accept his or her partner engaging in homosexual but not heterosexual acts with others, or vice versa.
Infidelity within marriage is often called "adultery."
Compare fidelity, faithfulness
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Infidelity."
Synonym: InfidelitySynonym: unfaithfulness (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: fidelity (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Improbity | Noun: improbity; dishonesty, dishonor; disgrace; (disrepute); fraud; (deception); lying; bad faith, Punic faith; mala fides, Punica fides; infidelity; faithlessness; Adjective: Judas kiss, betrayal. |
Irreligion | Infidelity, freethinking, antichristianity, rationalism; neology. |
Unbelief Doubt | Noun: unbelief, disbelief, misbelief; discredit, miscreance; infidelity; (irreligion); dissent; change of opinion; retraction. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Infidelity |
| English words defined with "infidelity": Infidelities ♦ Wittol. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "infidelity": Apostles, where buried ♦ Bellisant ♦ Cabbage, Cock-Crowing ♦ Divorce, Doves ♦ Embrace ♦ fidelity bond ♦ Genovefa, Giants ♦ Harmonia's Robe, Hermione ♦ Pancras, Perdrix, toujours Perdrix, Posthumus ♦ Sansjoy, Scheherazade ♦ Washer Woman, Water of Jealousy, Wedding Ring. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I mean that's what high school was about, algebra, bad lunch, and infidelity. (Clerks.; writing credit: Kevin Smith) Is it infidelity if you're involved with somebody on email (You've Got Mail; writing credit: Nora Ephron) Marriages don't break up on account of infidelity. It's just a symptom that something else is wrong (When Harry Met Sally...; writing credit: Nora Ephron) | |
Lyrics | Knahm'talkinbout? Jealousy, infidelity, envy (Ms. Jackson; performing artist: Outkast) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Infidelity American Style (1967) Hi Infidelity (2001) Infidelity (1988) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
George MacDonald | Division has done more to hide Christ from the view of all men than all the infidelity that has ever been spoken. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Women | Ghana | Three of the 20 murders reportedly involved husbands' suspicion of their wives' infidelity. (references) |
Sierra Leone | There also were reports that women suspected of infidelity were required to undergo animistic rituals to prove their innocence. (references) | |
Sierra Leone | In rural areas, polygamy is a common practice among men, but women suspected of marital infidelity often are subject to physical abuse. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Infidelity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Infidelity" is used about 115 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 115 | 30,138 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "infidelity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | të qenët i pafe, pabesi (disloyalty, falseness, falsity, perfidiousness, perfidy, perjury, recreancy, unfaithfulness). (various references) | |
Arabic | كفر (atheism, blaspheme, disbelief, disbelieve, unbelief), زندقة (atheism, disbelief), خيانة زوجية (adultery), خيانة (betrayal, cheating, deception, disloyalty, double cross, faithlessness, perfidy, sell out, treachery, treason, unfaithfulness), الحاد (heresy, libertinism, unbelief). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | невярност (falseness, inveracity), нелоялност (disloyalty, indirectness, recreancy, turnabout), безверие, безбожие (impiety, irreligion), изневяра (adultery, defection, falseness, inconstancy). (various references) | |
Chinese | 宗教信仰. (various references) | |
Czech | nevìra (unfaithfulness), manželská nevìra. (various references) | |
Farsi | کفر (Atheism, Blasphemy, Heresy, Profanity). (various references) | |
French | infidélité (inaccuracy). (various references) | |
German | untreue (betrayal, disloyalty, embezzlement, perfidy, unfaithfulness), Treulosigkeit (disloyally, disloyalty, falseness, falsity, perfidiousness, perfidy, treachery, unfaithfulness), seitensprung (bit on the side, escapade, side leap). (various references) | |
Greek | απιστία (disbelief, disloyalty, disloyalty to, perfidiousness, perfidy, unbelief, unfaithfulness). (various references) | |
Hebrew | אי אמ ות (disaffection, disloyalty), "פרת אמו ים (breach of trust), ב'י"ות (betrayal, treachery), אוף (adultery, fornication, lewdness, prostitution). (various references) | |
Hungarian | hitetlenség (atheism, disbelief, incredulity, irreligion, irreligiosity, irreligiousness, unbelief). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kekafiran (impiety). (various references) | |
Italian | infedelt (disloyalty, unfaithfulness). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 不貞 (unchastity, unfaithfulness), 不審 (distrust, doubt, incomplete understanding, question, strangeness, suspicion). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ふし""う (impiety, lack of faith, unbelief), ふし"じ" (impiety, unbelief), ふし" (building, center of buoyancy, construction, depression, discredit, disloyalty, distrust, doing everything one can, doubt, dullness, incomplete understanding, insincerity, mistrust, perfidy, question, racking one's brains, slump, stagnation, strangeness, suspicion, taking pains to, unfaithfulness), ふてい (inconstancy, indefinite, insecurity, insubordination, outlawry, uncertainty, unchastity, undecided, unfaithfulness), ふちゅう (annotation, comment, disloyalty, Fuchuu), はいし" (betrayal, distribution). (various references) | |
Manx | neuhreishteilys (unfaithfulness), mee-yeelysaght (disaffection), jee-chredjue, anchredjuaght. (various references) | |
Norwegian | vantro (disbelief, incredulous, infidel), utroskap. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | infidelityay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | infidelidade (recreancy), descrena. (various references) | |
Romanian | infidelitate, neloialitate (disaffection), necredinţã (disloyalty, faithlessness, misbelief, perfidiousness, unbelief, unfaithfulness). (various references) | |
Russian | неверность (disloyalty, titubation). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | preljuba (adultery), neverovanje (scepticism), nevera (disloyalty). (various references) | |
Spanish | infidelidad (unfaithfulness), falta de fidelidad, deslealtad (disloyalty). (various references) | |
Swedish | otrohet (disloyalty), otro (suspicion, unbelief, want of faith). (various references) | |
Turkish | imansızlık (unbelief), ihanet (betrayal, defection, judas kiss, sellout, treachery), zina (adultery, criminal conversation, fornication, hanky panky, misconduct), kâfirlik, hıyanet (betrayal, perdify, treachery), aldatma (cheat, chicanery, deceit, deception, dupery, eyewash, have on, illusion, imposition, inveiglement, mystification, shave, spoof). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | язичество (heathendom, heathenism, pagandom, paganism), віроломність (guile), невіра (disbelief, offence, offense, unbelief), атеїзм (atheism, freethinking, secularism). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự không trung th nh (disloyalty), sự không tin đạo Thiên chúa. (various references) | |
Welsh | anghrediniaeth (unbelief), anghred (unbelief), anffyddiaeth (agnosticism, atheism). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Infidelity" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: iinfidelity, infedelity, infidelaty, infideliaty, infidelitiy, infidellity. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "infidelity" (pronounced i'nfude"lutē) |
| 8 | -f u d e" l u t ē | fidelity. |
| 4 | -l u t ē | acceptability, accessibility, ability, abnormality, accountability, actuality, adaptability, admissibility, advisability, affordability, agility, amiability, applicability, availability, banality, believability, bestiality, bisexuality, brutality, capability, causality, centrality, civility, collegiality, commonality, comparability, compatibility, comprehensibility, conditionality, confidentiality, congeniality, constitutionality, convertibility, credibility, credulity, criminality, criticality, culpability, cyclicality, debility, deductibility, deniability, dependability, desirability, dimensionality, disability, irresponsibility, irritability, legality, docility, duality, ductility, durability, electability, eligibility, enforceability, equality, eventuality, extraterritoriality, facility, fallibility, fatality, feasibility, fertility, finality, flammability, flexibility, formality, fragility, frivolity, frugality, functionality, futility, generality, geniality, gentility, gullibility, heterosexuality, homosexuality, hospitality, hostility, humility, illegality, immobility, immorality, immortality, impartiality, impersonality, impossibility, inability, inaccessibility, incivility, incompatibility, incredulity, indestructibility, individuality, inequality, inevitability, infallibility, infertility, inflexibility, informality, instability, instrumentality, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irrationality, legibility, lethality, liability, liberality, locality, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, materiality, mentality, miscibility, mobility, modality, morality, mortality, motility, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, neutrality, nobility, nonutility, normality, originality, palatability, partiality, permeability, personality, plausibility, plurality, polity, portability, possibility, practicality, predictability, principality, probability, profitability, proportionality, punctuality, quality, rationality, readability, reality, reliability, respectability, responsibility, seasonality, senility, sensibility, sensuality, sentimentality, sexuality, speciality, spirituality, stability, sterility, suitability, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, technicality, theatricality, tonality, totality, tranquility, transferability, triviality, unavailability, universality, unpredictability, unreality, unreliability, utility, variability, venality, versatility, viability, virility, visibility, vitality, volatility, vulnerability. |
| 3 | -u t ē | absurdity, acidity, activity, acuity, adversity, affinity, aggressivity, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, barbarity, biodiversity, brevity, calamity, capacity, captivity, cavity, celebrity, charity, chastity, clarity, commodity, community, complexity, complicity, conductivity, conformity, congruity, connectivity, continuity, creativity, crotchety, curiosity, deformity, deity, density, depravity, deputy, dexterity, dignity, discontinuity, laity, laxity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, domesticity, duplicity, eccentricity, elasticity, electricity, enmity, enormity, entity, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, exclusivity, expressivity, extremity, falsity, familiarity, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, festivity, fluidity, fraternity, generosity, gratuity, gravity, heredity, heterogeneity, hilarity, homogeneity, humanity, humidity, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, identity, illiquidity, immaturity, immunity, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inactivity, incapacity, incongruity, indemnity, indignity, inequity, inferiority, infinity, infirmity, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, insensitivity, insularity, integrity, intensity, irregularity, levity, liquidity, lividity, longevity, majority, masculinity, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, minority, modernity, monstrosity, morbidity, multiplicity, nativity, necessity, negativity, Nonconformity, nonentity, notoriety, nudity, obesity, objectivity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, overcapacity, oversensitivity, parity, particularity, passivity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, perpetuity, perplexity, perversity, piety, polarity, pomposity, popularity, posterity, priority, probity, proclivity, productivity, profanity, progressivity, promiscuity, propensity, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, purity, quantity, radioactivity, rapidity, rarity, reactivity, receptivity, reciprocity, reflexivity, regularity, relativity, religiosity, retroactivity, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, security, selectivity, seniority, sensitivity, serendipity, serenity, severity, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, specificity, spontaneity, stupidity, subjectivity, superconductivity, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, temerity, tenacity, timidity, toxicity, Trinity, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, university, unpopularity, uppity, validity, vanity, variety, varsity, velocity, velvety, veracity, Verity, vicinity, virginity, virtuosity, viscosity, voracity, vulgarity. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-f-i-i-i-l-n-t-y" | |
-2 letters: felinity, fidelity, finitely, identify. | |
-3 letters: fetidly, flinted, infidel, infield, niftily. | |
-4 letters: deftly, dentil, finely, finite, flinty, flited, flyted, indite, lenity, lifted, nidify, tidily, tineid, tinily. | |
-5 letters: deify, deity, delft, dynel, edify, elfin, elint, feint, felid, fetid, field, fiend, filed, filet, fined, fitly, flied, flint, flite, flyte, indie, inlet, lefty, lindy, lined, liney, linty, nifty. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-f-i-i-i-l-n-t-y" | |
+2 letters: definitively, identifiably, indefinitely. | |
+3 letters: defensibility. | |
+4 letters: indefinability. | |
+5 letters: confidentiality, indefeasibility, indefectibility, indefensibility. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
