Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and rivalry.
What Is Infidelity? Infidelity, or cheating, is the act of being unfaithful to a spouse or other partner. It typically means engaging in sexual or romantic relations with a person other than one's significant other, breaking a commitment or promise in the act.
charlatan, con artist, crook, hypocrite, impostor, rascal, rogue, swindler, trickster, chicanery, deception, fraud, scam, swindle, trickery, bilk, con, deceive, defraud, delude.
mistress. noun. a woman who is having a sexual relationship with a married man.
A mistress is in a long-term relationship with a person who is married to someone else, and is often referred to as "the other woman".
“Infidelity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infidelity.
scammer. noun. someone who tries to cheat people, especially by tricking them into paying for non-existent goods or services.
02/6Sexual intercourse
This is the most prominent type of cheating. There's no grey area. If you have engaged in sexual intercourse with another person other than your partner, without their knowledge or permission, then that's cheating.
According to the General Social Survey, men are more likely to cheat than women, with 20% of men and 13% of women reporting having sex with someone other than their partner while still married.
If you've been cheated on, it's likely that you also experienced some degree of what psychologists refer to as gaslighting. Gaslighting, in case you're wondering, is a form of psychological abuse that involves the presentation of false information followed by dogged insistence that the information is true.
bedswerver (plural bedswervers) One who is unfaithful to the marriage vow.
Adultery covers all types of sexual behaviour
Legally, adultery only covers sexual intercourse, which means behaviours such as kissing, webcam, virtual, and “emotional adultery” do not count for the purposes of getting divorced. This makes adultery very hard to prove if your spouse will not admit to it.
It is important to understand that Adultery is a crime in many jurisdictions, although it is rarely prosecuted. State law typically defines Adultery as vaginal intercourse, only. Therefore, two people seen kissing, groping, or engaged in oral sex, do not meet the legal definition of Adultery.
The two types of adultery
Let's look at the dictionary definition of adultery: “voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.” In fact, there are two types: single adultery (with an unmarried person) and double adultery (with a married person.)
There are two main categories of infidelity: Physical and Emotional. An affair is generally considered to be a secondary relationship that is a combination of types and possibly fall under both main categories of physical and emotional infidelity.
Cheaters are impulsive, and can't resist taking that risk despite what it might cost them. Cheaters, like bullies, are fueled by power, and drawn to risk. This kind of behavior, however, is a reflection of something deeply rooted inside of them.
It is no surprise, then, that marital infidelity is a leading cause of divorce. Just how common is marital infidelity? According to a study from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, as many as 25 percent of married men and 15 percent of married women have had extramarital affairs.
For some, cheating is a way to explore repressed parts of the self. These cheaters don't actually want to change the core of who they are; they just want to escape the constraints of that for a little while. They're not looking for another person; they're looking for hidden versions of themselves. Insecurity.
Research from the past two decades shows that between 20 and 25 percent of married men cheat and between 10 and 15 percent of married women cheat, according to professor Nicholas Wolfinger.