绿帽

綠帽
lǜmào
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 cuckold's hat (idiom for an unfaithful partner)
  2. 2 short for 绿帽子

Examples

Tā gěi lǎogōng dài le lǜmào.
She cheated on her husband (put a green hat on him).
Méi rén yuànyì dài lǜmào.
Nobody wants to be cheated on.
Zhè bù diànshìjù yòu shì lǜmào jùqíng.
This TV drama is yet another cheating storyline.

Tips

history
"Wearing a green hat" (绿帽) meaning being cheated on dates to the Yuan and Ming dynasties, when male relatives of prostitutes were legally required to wear green headwear. The association stuck.
register
Colloquial and mildly vulgar — fine in casual speech and online, avoid in formal contexts. The fuller form 绿帽子 is equally common.

Stroke Order

绿
mào