cuckold
cuck·old/ˈkʌ.koʊld/noun, verb
cuckold is spelled C-U-C-K-O-L-D, 2 syllables: cuck·old. The wrong spelling people search most is cuckhold: about 5,330 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 3 in 10 of all searches for the word. Cuckold is a noun meaning “A man married to an adulterous spouse, especially when he is unaware or unaccepting of the fact”. The plural of cuckold is cuckolds.
How many letters and syllables are in cuckold?
| Letters | 7: C-U-C-K-O-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cuck·old |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, cuckhold, about 5,330 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell cuckold?
Cuckold is spelled C-U-C-K-O-L-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 3 in 10 of the searches for cuckold in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is cuckold?
Cuckold appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cuckold?
- UK /ˈkʌ.kəʊld/
- UK /ˈkʌ.kəld/
- US /ˈkʌ.koʊld/
Cuckold has 2 syllables, split cuck·old in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cuckold.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cuckold2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cuckold
- cuckolds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cuckolding participle, present
- cuckolded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cuckold mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A man married to an adulterous spouse, especially when he is unaware or unaccepting of the fact.
If I never marry, I shall never be a cuckold.
- 2
A man who is attracted to or aroused by the sexual infidelity of a partner.
- 3
A West Indian plectognath fish, Rhinesomus triqueter.
- 4
The scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis and allied species.
- 5
Synonym of fringed filefish.
verb
- 1
To make a cuckold or cuckquean of someone by committing adultery, or by seducing their partner or spouse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cuckold in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cocu, cornard , cocufier, porter des cornes |
| German | Gehörnter, Hahnrei, Hornträger , hörnen |
| Portuguese | corno, chifrudo, cabrão , chifrar, cornear, pôr chifres em |
| Spanish | cornudo, cuclillo, novillo, cachudo, tarrudo, cachón |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cuckold come from?
From Middle English cokolde, cokewold, cockewold, kukwald, kukeweld, from Old French cucuault; a compound of cucu (“cuckoo”) and Old French -auld. The word references the behavior of cuckoo birds where they lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. Cucu is either a directly derived onomatopoeic derivative of the cuckoo's call, or from Latin cucūlus. Latin cucūlus is a compound of onomatopoeic cucu (compare Late Latin cucus) and the diminutive suffix -ulus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).