Definition

Adjective: - Not faithful to a spouse or lover; engaging in a secret romantic or sexual relationship with someone other than one's committed partner.

Usage

This adjective describes a person who is deceitfully unfaithful within a romantic relationship. It implies betrayal and secrecy. It is typically used attributively (before a noun) or predictively (after a linking verb like "is" or "was").

Examples

• She discovered her two-timing boyfriend was also seeing her best friend.
• I will not tolerate two-timing behavior in a relationship.
• He was accused of being two-timing and dishonest.
• How could you be so two-timing?

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a strong negative moral judgment and connotes cowardice and deception, as the person is maintaining two relationships simultaneously without the knowledge of one or both partners.
• It can be used in a slightly broader, metaphorical sense to describe deceitful disloyalty in non-romantic contexts, though this is less common.
  • The politician was accused of being two-timing for making promises to both opposing groups.

Variants and Related Words

• Two-timer (noun): A person who two-times; an unfaithful partner.
  • He's a known two-timer; you shouldn't trust him.
• Two-time (verb): To be unfaithful to a romantic partner.
  • She found out he had been two-timing her for months.

Synonyms

• Unfaithful
• Cheating
• Adulterous (specifically refers to marital infidelity)
• Duplicitous (more general, for deceitful behavior)

Antonyms

• Faithful
• Loyal
• True
• Devoted

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Playing the field: Dating multiple people casually, often without serious commitment. (This differs from "two-timing," which involves breaking an expectation of exclusivity.)
• Cheating heart: A poetic or colloquial term for a tendency to be unfaithful.
• Straying: A euphemism for being unfaithful.

Adjective

1. not faithful to a spouse or lover
   • adulterous husbands and wives
   • a two-timing boyfriend