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• divorce
  divorce

  noun

  the act of legally ending a marriage.
• divorcé
  divorcé

  noun

  a divorced man.

divorce

¹ American  

[dih-vawrs] / dɪˈvɔrs /

noun

• divorces
  plural

1. the act of legally ending a marriage.

   After the divorce, they shared custody of the children.

2. any formal separation of spouses according to established custom.

3. the act of legally ending a formal contract before its term is up, especially in professional sports.

   If there’s a personality clash between the player and the manager, divorce may be the only way out.

   It’s a guide to corporate divorce, laying out who pays what to whom at the early termination of a contract.

4. a total separation between two things; disunion.

   Activists denounced the divorce between thought and action when it came to protecting human rights.

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verb (used with object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end the marriage contract between oneself and (one's spouse).

   She divorced her husband.

2. to permanently separate (a couple) through a judicial declaration that ends their marriage contract.

   The judge divorced the couple.

3. to separate or cut off.

   His view of the situation has become totally divorced from reality.

   Synonyms:

   disjoin, detach, sever, disconnect, divide, dissociate, rupture, disjunction, dissolution, breakup, annulment

verb (used without object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end one’s marriage.

   After 16 years together, they divorced.

   I never thought about money till I divorced.

divorcé ² American  

[dih-vawr-sey, -vohr-, -vawr-sey, -vohr-] / dɪ vɔrˈseɪ, -voʊr-, -ˈvɔr seɪ, -ˈvoʊr- /

noun

1. a divorced man.

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divorce ¹ British  

/ dɪˈvɔːs /

noun

1. the dissolution of a marriage by judgment of a court or by accepted custom

2. a judicial decree declaring a marriage to be dissolved

3. a separation, esp one that is total or complete

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verb

1. to separate or be separated by divorce; give or obtain a divorce (to a couple or from one's spouse)

2. (tr) to remove or separate, esp completely

divorcé ² British  

/ dɪˈvɔːseɪ /

noun

1. a man who has been divorced

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Gender

See fiancée.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• divorcer
  noun
• divorceable
  adjective
• divorcive
  adjective
• nondivorced
  adjective
• undivorceable
  adjective
• undivorced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• divorces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divorce¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin dīvortium “separation,” from dīvort(ere) variant of dīvertere “to turn away” ( see divert) + -ium -ium

Origin of divorcé²

First recorded in 1805–15; from French, noun use of masculine past participle of divorcer, from Medieval Latin dīvortiāre “to divorce,” derivative of Latin dīvortium “separation”; see divorce

Explanation

A divorce is a formal ending of a marriage. It’s more permanent than a separation and involves a legal process. If you get a divorce, that means the marriage is officially over. Divorce has both a noun and a verb form. The noun describes the thing you get — "you are getting a divorce." And the verb describes the thing you do — "you are divorcing your spouse." Divorce can also be used more broadly to describe any major separation. You might know of a politician who divorces himself from a controversial issue — that means he doesn’t want to be associated with it at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divorce divorcé divorces divorced divorcing

After a divorce: Divorce is the most obvious trigger — but as Kleinfeldt’s case shows, wanting to update your beneficiary designations isn’t enough.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

The amount surpasses the 944 billion won awarded in the divorce settlement between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won -- whose business also owns chip giant SK hynix -- and his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

The divorce was finalised in September 2025 while criminal proceedings were ongoing.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

She’s since tracked down her ex-husband and the divorce is in process.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

He argued that divorce should not be discussed at a women’s rights conventions because it involved both men and women.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

The acclaimed “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” adapted by Taffy Brodesser-Akner from her bestselling 2019 novel, is ostensibly about this Manhattan divorcé and struggling single father, played by Jesse Eisenberg.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

The 66-year-old divorcé had just started seeing someone.

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023

This German comedy about a divorcé who goes to extreme lengths to spend time with his daughter earned glowing reviews, despite running for a posterior-numbing two hours and 42 minutes.

From BBC ● May 22, 2016

“He would phone us at home sometimes, like on a Saturday,” Mr. Rush recalled, back when the presidential candidate was a city divorcé.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2016

He gave her rapidly a sketch of the life and antecedents of Lord Donald of Dunoon—gambler, wastrel, divorcé, et cetera, speaking quite frankly, almost as he would have spoken to a man.

From Helena by Mrs. Humphry Ward

“The battle over embryos is becoming a big problem in divorces now.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

I think a lot of us feel like we grew up with Hilary, so all of her music resonated with us then, and now, now that we’re older, through relationships or divorces or motherhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

It's a sizeable sum to part with when divorces can be expensive.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

While divorces are often expensive, acrimonious and painful for the rest of the family, I came to see that they sometimes are the most necessary step a person can take for their own well-being.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

There had been several divorces among them, including Yolanda's.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

“When we got divorced, we talked about making rooms for the kids here and having them here sometimes, but it’s just such a long drive,” she said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

She has lost her children, she is confined to a wheelchair, and her husband divorced her and remarried.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Life before then had been untethered - she had moved around, been married, pregnant and divorced before she was 21.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

The couple married in 1990 and divorced in 2001.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

Or is it just because her parents are only divorced, not dead and in danger like mine?

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Finally, the Sun splashes on the marriage breakup of Katie Price and her "conman hubby", as the paper puts it, with: "Katie: I'm divorcing you, Lee."

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Right now there’s a lot of talk about divorcing your parents going around.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Keep in mind that divorcing solely for the purpose of qualifying for higher benefits may raise legal concerns if the divorce is not genuine.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

But divorcing a film like this from the times in which we’re absorbing it is short of impossible, no matter how much of an escape it provides for 109 minutes.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

Abuelita said that Papá was divorcing Mamá, but she didn’t mention that he had another woman and two other daughters.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• annulment
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• split