unfaithful

English

Etymology

From Middle English unfeithful, equivalent to un- +‎ faithful.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

unfaithful (comparative more unfaithful, superlative most unfaithful)

1. Not having religious faith.
2. Not keeping good faith; disloyal; not faithful.

   Synonyms: faithless, nonfaithful, unleal; see also Thesaurus:treacherous

3. Adulterous.
   • 2026 June 13, Sophie McBain, “‘Have you ever been around someone you just know is evil?’ Melinda French Gates on meeting Jeffrey Epstein, giving away billions, and her post-divorce peace”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     French Gates has said that many things contributed to her decision to divorce Bill in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, among them that he was unfaithful to her and that he maintained contact with Epstein, despite her objections.

4. Not honest or upright.
5. Negligent or imperfect.

   The painting was an unfaithful rendering of its subject.

6. (translation studies) Not faithfully rendering the meaning of the source language; incorrect.

Synonyms

• nonfaithful

Derived terms

• unfaithfully
• unfaithfulness

Translations

not having religious faith

• Arabic: كَافِر (kāfir)
• Bulgarian: нерелигиозен (bg) (nereligiozen)
• Catalan: infidel (ca)
• French: infidèle (fr)
• Galician: infiel
• German: ungläubig (de)
• Polish: niewierny (pl)
• Russian: неве́рующий (ru) (nevérujuščij), неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj)
• Spanish: infiel (es)
• Welsh: di-ffydd, anghrediniol (cy)

not keeping good faith; disloyal; not faithful

• Arabic: خَائِن (ḵāʔin)
• Bulgarian: нелоялен (bg) (nelojalen)
• Catalan: infidel (ca)
• Danish: utro
• Finnish: uskoton (fi)
• French: infidèle (fr)
• Galician: infiel
• Georgian: ორგული (orguli)
• German: untreu (de)
• Latin: infidēlis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utro

  Nynorsk: utru

• Occitan: infidèl (oc)
• Plautdietsch: ontru
• Polish: niewierny (pl)
• Russian: неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj)
• Spanish: infiel (es)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: صداقتسز (sadakatsiz)

• Welsh: anffyddlon (cy)

not honest or upright

• Bulgarian: нечестен (bg) (nečesten)
• German: unaufrichtig (de), unehrlich (de)
• Russian: неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj), нече́стный (ru) (nečéstnyj), неи́скренний (ru) (neískrennij)

of a translation: incorrect

• Bulgarian: неточен (bg) (netočen)
• Catalan: infidel (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不忠實 / 不忠实 (bùzhōngshí)

• German: nicht getreu
• Polish: niewierny (pl)
• Russian: нето́чный (ru) (netóčnyj), неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj)
• Spanish: infiel (es)

adulterous

• Bulgarian: неверен (bg) (neveren), изневеряващ (bg) (izneverjavašt)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μοιχικός (moikhikós)

• Latin: adulter
• Māori: toukohi, tōkohi, pūremu
• Occitan: infidèl (oc)
• Polish: niewierny (pl)
• Russian: неве́рный (ru) (nevérnyj)
• Spanish: infiel (es)
• Uzbek: bevafo (uz)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontrouw (nl)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} desfidela (io)

References

• “unfaithful”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.