spinster

American  

[spin-ster] / ˈspɪn stər /

noun

1. Disparaging and Offensive. a woman still unmarried beyond the usual age of marrying.

2. Chiefly Law. a woman who has never married.

3. a woman whose occupation is spinning.

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spinster British  

/ ˈspɪnstə /

noun

1. an unmarried woman regarded as being beyond the age of marriage

2. law (in legal documents) a woman who has never married Compare feme sole

3. (formerly) a woman who spins thread for her living

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Sensitive Note

The meaning “a woman beyond the usual marriageable age” is used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. It implies negative qualities such as being fussy or undesirable. See also old maid.

Other Word Forms

• spinsterhood noun
• spinsterish adjective
• spinsterishly adverb
• spinsterlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of spinster

1325–75; Middle English spinnestere a woman who spins. See spin, -ster

Example Sentences

“I’m a geriatric pregnant spinster who puts crystals in her bra,” Helen says in an unusual moment of self-awareness.

From The Wall Street Journal

I was also forty years old—practically a spinster by that era’s standards.

From Literature

"She's described in the record as a spinster," said Prof English.

From BBC

The author is looking for a job and taking allergy shots so that she can one day become a spinster with two cats.

From Los Angeles Times

"Look at me," she declares to her spinster daughters in one scene.

From Salon