nuclear family

American  

[noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, fam lee, nyoo-] / ˈnu kli ər ˈfæm ə li, ˈfæm li, ˈnju- /

noun

nuclear families plural

1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children.

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nuclear family British  

noun

1. sociol anthropol a primary social unit consisting of parents and their offspring Compare extended family

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nuclear family Cultural  

1. A type of family made up only of parents and their children. (Compare extended family.)

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Pronunciation

See nuclear ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nuclear families
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nuclear family

First recorded in 1945–50

Compare meaning

How does nuclear-family compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• nuclear family vs. extended family

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nuclear family

At various points, sociologists proposed and critiqued affirmative action, inspired and lambasted welfare reform, diagnosed and dismissed the breakdown of the nuclear family.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Friedkin’s movie shifted people’s perceptions about fear and played with longstanding ideas about the nuclear family and religious ideology, themes that were starting to be contested and debated as America moved further from ’50s-era sterility.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Once was when I was 18 years old, and it was definitely mental illness: I want the nuclear family that I didn’t have, and I want it now.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

Scott recalled growing up in a working-class family in Birmingham, "in a world of soap operas and things" where TV characters were mostly in heterosexual relationships or "settled down" in a nuclear family.

From BBC ● May 31, 2025

Behind him huddled his nuclear family, a circle of two smaller females and about eighteen bucktoothed guinea pig children.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline