Jump To:

• 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.

---

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-say, -vohr-, -vawr-say, -vohr-] / dɪ vɔrˈseɪ, -voʊr-, -ˈvɔr seɪ, -ˈvoʊr- /

noun

1. a divorced man.

---

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

---

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

---

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

The owner of an online wellness company had agreed in his divorce to pay hefty spousal support, based on what the business was earning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

The couple called off the divorce and tried to reconcile, and his wife took the children to stay with family in Montana.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

A few years ago, Georgia Chappels found herself in a 'financial crisis' after going through a divorce.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

At the time, she was raising seven children -- she later had more -- while going through a divorce.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

But that Hudson went away when his parents’ divorce was finalized on April 1 after twenty years of marriage.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Yet the song was actually Mellencamp’s response to the emptiness he felt as a famous divorcé on the road playing the biggest concerts of his life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

And there’s the leering, preening Rupert Mannion from “Ted Lasso” — multimillionaire soccer team owner, inveterate philanderer and incurably vindictive divorcé.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

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

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023

Stepan, an outgoing 41-year-old divorcé with a pet hedgehog, posted photos of oxygen cylinders and explained that he had three in his apartment.

From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2022

First the twain fall desperately in love, and Edith, the Catholic, discovers Ben to be an innocent divorcé.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, September 26, 1917 by Various

Robach and Holmes both finalized their divorces in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

Mr. Spencer’s four marriages and three divorces barely merit a mention, yet his emotions are center stage as he interweaves his memories around Diana’s death with other scattered recollections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

I’ve also heard from various people telling me their whole financial picture, down to the pennies in their accounts, and the ins and outs of their divorces, estate fights and bad relationships with financial professionals.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 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

O’Neill listened carefully while I went through Jesse’s story: his family’s involvement in a religious cult when he was young, the three divorces he’d lived through, his father’s illness.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

The couple had two children before they divorced in 1990.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

His entry into politics came at age 17 after his father pushed him to run against his mother Rogeria on the Rio de Janeiro city council, a year after his parents divorced.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

They share two children — daughter Sunshine and son Harmony — and divorced in 1977.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Their father and I are divorced, and the divorce was far from amicable.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

I once asked Tía why they got divorced, but she just said, “He stopped loving me.”

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

The journalists said in 2023 they were in the process of divorcing their exes when the Daily Mail and Page Six reported on their romance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

The couple were married at the time of the alleged offences before separating in 2018 and divorcing in 2021.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

May 2021: Bill and Melinda French Gates announce they are divorcing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Bill Eddy, a longtime conflict resolution specialist, also describes relationship dynamics between siblings that can be similar to a divorcing couple trying to make it work for the kids.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

"When your mother said that she was divorcing your father and wanted to move to New York where she grew up, my grandmother set things up with Dr. Gershom."

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• annulment
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• split

---