motherless
Britishadjective
adverb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Indonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India, where they were found motherless in a forest, Jakarta's forestry ministry told AFP Friday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
The two motherless African-American children at the heart of “Kin,” Vernice Irene Davis and Annie Kay Henderson, who grow up as “cradle friends” in Honeysuckle, La., are easy to feel for.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
Delila Combs, 18, pleaded: "We can't watch our baby sister grow up fatherless the same way we grew up motherless... Please, please give our family the chance to heal."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
Having searched at length for quantitative research into the particular long-term trauma faced by motherless daughters, I’d resurfaced with only a thin stack of close-enough studies.
From Salon ● May 11, 2024
Jim Button was motherless, too—and all you found in fairy tales were wicked stepmothers; heartless, jealous stepmothers...the list could go on forever.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
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.
