breadwinner
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of breadwinner
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.
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“It’s not surprising that families would prioritize the man being the breadwinner to make more money because families need more money” to pay for healthcare, child care and more.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
In modern America, high-income households are powered not by a single breadwinner, but by two sustained professional careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Burden’s marriage began to settle into the traditional gender roles of homemaker and breadwinner, despite the fact that it was Burden who had financed their lifestyle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
After searching for a new rental property she and her partner realised they could no longer afford to stay in London, particularly as Georgie was the "predominant breadwinner".
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
For ten years, Mother had been the primary breadwinner, while continuing to cook meals, clean the house, do the laundry, and I had never once heard her express anything like resentment.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Telephone poles covered in fundraising pleas for families whose breadwinners either rotted in faraway detention center or were sent back to their home countries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
One is that its stars are their family’s breadwinners.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
The result: Most breadwinners still have jobs, and they are still spending.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 10, 2026
One possible source of domestic tension: Women often still handle more of the housework and child care, even when they are breadwinners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2025
More specifically these breadwinners include 218,972 farm owners and 319,346 cash farm tenants and managers.
From The Negro by Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt)
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.
