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cheat on

B1 informal inseparable transitive
In simple words

To secretly do something bad that breaks the rules or hurts someone who trusts you — like kissing another person when you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or copying answers on a test.

Literal meaning: To cheat while 'on' (i.e., during or against) something — the preposition anchors the betrayal to a specific relationship or event.

Meanings

1 B1 idiomatic informal

To be sexually or romantically unfaithful to a romantic partner.

"She found out he had been cheating on her for almost a year before she confronted him."

""I cheated on my fiancée, and I'm not proud of it.""

— Tiger Woods, public apology statement, February 2010
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 neutral

To act dishonestly or break rules during an exam, test, or game.

"Three students were caught cheating on the final exam and received failing grades."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

Very commonly used in both the romantic-betrayal sense and the academic-dishonesty sense. The romantic sense is the more emotionally loaded of the two. Neutral to informal in register; not considered slang.

Commonly used with

partner spouse boyfriend girlfriend exam test

Forms

Base
cheat on
I/you/we/they
3rd person
cheats on
he/she/it
Past simple
cheated on
yesterday
Past participle
cheated on
have + pp
-ing form
cheating on
continuous

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