Meanings
- uncountablelawUnlawful sexual intercourse with a married person; adultery; a common law tort arising from adultery, abolished in many jurisdictions.
It then charged the defendant, William Atkinſon, with having ſeduced the plaintiff's wife, and with having had criminal converſation with her.
1789, Adultery: The Trial of Mr. William Atkinson, Linen-Draper, of Cheapside for Criminal Conversation with Mrs. Conner, page 12 more examples
Gentlemen of the Jury, This is an action for a compensation by damages, in consequence of a criminal conversation with the Plaintiff's wife, the circumstances of which are more serious and more painful than any I ever met with.
1809, The Trial of the Right Honorable Lord Paget, for Criminal Conversation with Lady Charlotte Wellesley, page 28The main object now was not necessarily to punish or even to prevent immorality, but to improve the law of divorce and to restrict private suits for ‘criminal conversation’.
2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 77Synonyms: conversation, crim. con.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounUnlawful sexual intercourse with a married person; adultery; a common law tort arising from adultery, abolished in many jurisdictions.
More synonyms by meaning
nounextramarital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
criminal conversation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminal%20conversation
“criminal conversation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminal%20conversation. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “criminal conversation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/criminal%20conversation.
Source: criminal conversation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.