What Does "Cuckold" Mean?

A "cuckold" is a man whose partner - wife or girlfriend - is having sex with another man. In simple terms, a cuckold is a man whose partner is cheating on him, although the term "cheating" may be controversial because it implies that the partner is breaking the rules of the relationship, which is not always the case.

In the world of kinks and fetishes, a cuckold is often aware that his partner is having sex with others, and while usually jealous, sometimes even angry, he may be turned on by it. The cuckold may even encourage his partner to continue the "cheating" behavior, or want to watch while his wife/partner has sex with a third party.

Historically (see below), cuckold referred to a husband who was usually unaware that his wife was having a sexual relationship with another man. The fact that the historical meaning is different from the modern fetish meaning causes confusion and disagreement about the exact definition of a "cuckold", specifically whether or not the man being cuckolded should be aware of the partner's actions, and whether the man should be angry, disgusted, turned on, involved in the sex act, or any combination of the above.

What makes the cuckold kink exciting to men who find it exciting varies, but there are a couple of main possibilities commonly covered in cuckold themed movies and fiction:

1. Taboo-breaking - The cuckold's wife is secretly doing something forbidden by the rules of the relationship (cheating). The fact that she is breaking the rules of conventional relationships can be exciting to the husband. The cuckold eventually finds out about the extramarital sex, either by accident (for example, walking in on his wife with another man), by one of his friends telling him, or by some other method. This leads to the husband confronting the wife, and making an effort to "reclaim" the woman from the man she cheated with. This often ends with some form of domination over the woman, and is a fantasy about reclaiming his power in the relationship.

2. "Hall Pass" - The cuckold allows his wife to have sex with other men with some set of rules. This is called a "hall pass" situation in reference to how students at a school can't leave class unless they are given a hall pass by the teacher. For example, she must tell the cuckold details of the affairs later, the cuckold must be allowed to watch his wife with the other man, or in the most extreme cases, the cuckold is somehow physically involved in a threesome type situation when his wife is cheating. This is exciting to the cuckold because he is turned on by the idea of his wife with another man.

3. Dominant Wife - The cuckold is being humiliated by his wife in some way. She intentionally does things to make him feel weak, look bad in front of his friends or people in the community, etc. This type of cuckold fantasy is about the cuckold being dominated and submitting to the power of his wife/partner. The cuckold gains pleasure at being emasculated. This is basically married femdom.

These are very basic overviews of the major themes. Entire books could be written delving into the cuckold fetish phenomenon since it means different things to different people.

In the last few years, cuckold, often shortened to "cuck", has become a popular online insult meaning that a man is weak, impotent, and does not stand up for themselves. In its recent insult context "cuck" does not refer to anything sexual directly, but the general meaning refers back to a man whose wife does not respect him and carries on relationships with other men, leaving him disrespected and mocked in the community. The term "cuck" is still commonly used as a shortened version of "cuckold" for people into the cuckold kink, but do to the recent non-sexual adoption of the word as an insult, it has also become widely used outside of the fetish community.

Cuckold History & Origin

The term "cuckold" was originally derived from the Cuckoo Bird, which lays eggs in nests other than its own. The word first appears in English in a poem published about 1250AD, and would later appear frequently in the works of William Shakespeare.

In most historical usage, a cuckold husband does not know about his wife cheating. He may discover that he is a cuckold when a baby is born that is clearly not his. The modern usage of the word cuckold, especially as a fetish or kink, often assumes that the husband is aware, or even encouraging of the cuckolding behavior.

Cuckold Word Usage & Variants

* Cuckolded - past tense verb.
"He was cuckolded by his wife."

* Cuckolding - verb.
"His wife was cuckolding him."

* Cuckoldry - noun, state of being.
"The consequences of cuckoldry may include not being sure that he is the biological father of his own wife's children."

* Cuckoldress - noun, the woman who is cuckolding a man.
"His cuckoldress called his name loudly."

Popularity on Literotica

Cuckold is one of the most popular subjects for erotic stories on Literotica. The "Loving Wives" category is not only one of the most popular categories, but it's also one of the most talked about, as fans of cuckold fantasies often disagree on what elements are important in a great cuckold story. Cuckolding fantasies often involve issues of power. Some readers get turned on by the cuckoldress being dominant while other readers want the cuckold himself to be dominant. This wide spectrum of opinions on cuckold stories are what makes the readers highly engaged, resulting in more comments and votes on cuckold stories than on many other subjects.

Categories Where Cuckold Stories Are Found

Loving Wives - this is the main category where cuckold stories are published.

Group Sex - cuckold stories where multiple partners are involved may end up here.

Voyeur - cuckold stories where the theme is mostly about the husband spying on his wife cheating sometimes end up here.

Fetish - if the cuckold story involves specific fetish elements, it might end up here.

Popular Cuckold Story Tags

Cuckold

Cuckolding

Cuckolded

Cuck

Sources

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckold

Oxford English Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cuckold

Wordnik https://www.wordnik.com/words/cuckoldry

Related Kinks

Cuckquean - a female cuckold.

Wittol - a cuckold who is aware his wife is cheating.

Cheating Wife - a wife who has sex with men other than her husband.

Female Lead Relationship (FLR) - soft femdom.

Gay Cuckold - cuckolding in a gay male relationship.

Swinging - couples who engage in sex with other couples.

Threesome - sex between three people.