the act of legally ending a marriage.
After the divorce, they shared custody of the children.
any formal separation of spouses according to established custom.
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.
a total separation between two things; disunion.
Activists denounced the divorce between thought and action when it came to protecting human rights.
to legally end the marriage contract between oneself and (one's spouse).
She divorced her husband.
to permanently separate (a couple) through a judicial declaration that ends their marriage contract.
The judge divorced the couple.
to separate or cut off.
His view of the situation has become totally divorced from reality.
the dissolution of a marriage by judgment of a court or by accepted custom
a judicial decree declaring a marriage to be dissolved
a separation, esp one that is total or complete
to separate or be separated by divorce; give or obtain a divorce (to a couple or from one's spouse)
(tr) to remove or separate, esp completely
See fiancée.
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
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
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He recounts how he used his Arsenal fandom to find acceptance at school, to escape from his parents’ divorce and to numb the pain of breakups.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
He has described his childhood as difficult, affected by his parents' divorce, bullying at school and his own difficulty picking up on social cues because of Asperger's Syndrome.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Also, my nephew went through a nasty divorce, where I paid for everything, and over the years it cost me $37,000.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
Gates’s ties to Epstein erupted again in 2021 when he and French Gates were going through a divorce.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
“This country’s divorce rate is over 50 percent. Maybe OST could help.”
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
