A cuckquean is the wife of an adulterous husband (or partner for unmarried companions), and the gender-opposite of a cuckold.^[1] In evolutionary biology, the term is also applied to females who are investing parental effort in offspring that are not genetically their own. Similar prying within a family is called wittoldry.^[2] The term is derived from Early Modern English dating back to AD 1562^[3][4] and is composed of the terms cuck^[5] "someone whose partner is unfaithful" and quean "disreputable woman".^[6]

A cuckquean fetishist is aware of her partner's activity, sometimes actively encouraging it, and derives sexual pleasure from it.^[7][8] Among some fetishists, the cuckquean's humiliation or victimization is a major element of the paraphilia.^[9]

In the fetish cuckqueaning subculture, the male takes on the role of being sexually dominant, while the female takes on a submissive role. The wife usually only becomes involved with the man or his lover(s) when he permits it—sometimes remaining altogether celibate.

In cuckqueaning, the male is known as hothusband and the other female is known as cuckcake. Cuckqueaning is often known as hothusbanding.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Cuckqueanry, like cuckolding, is commonly depicted as a heteronormative sexual fantasy and/or activity played out between a husband and wife, but can involve any number of gender and sexual orientations.^[14][15][16] When the fetish is simply androphilic or heterosexual, the wife has sex only with her husband; when it is bisexual, the wife may have sex with both her husband and the other woman (or women), or only with the husband's lover(s).

The fetish specifics can vary widely. Sometimes the husband and his lover(s) treat the cuckquean lovingly; sometimes it involves nothing but swinging, swapping husbands or sharing a lover. But when it goes beyond this, the fetish can require that the cuckquean be humiliated or debased. Sometimes this may be accidental or incidental (e.g., the parties involved are too aroused to stop), but at other times the humiliation may be intentional, and the husband and his lover(s) act out a story or perform a ritual in which they force the cuckquean to perform humiliating acts, or enter into circumstances that debase her. In many cuckqueaning relationships, women fantasize that their partners impregnate other women.