stepsister
Americannoun
-
stepsisters
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stepsister
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at step-, sister
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.
See Examples For:
Introducing someone as a stepsister evokes a host of unspoken disclaimers: Not my real sister!
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The union gave me a stepbrother and a stepsister.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
My stepsister said, “Oh, that was a long time ago, before my dad passed, and it was his idea,” but her dad died almost six months ago.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026
"What I found in this fairy tale is that the stepsister is the most relatable character and has been for thousands of years."
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
But Ash detected an undercurrent of anxiety in her stepsister, and she could not help it — she began to feel sorry for her.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
They were stepsisters who hadn’t seen each other since they were little girls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Despite the family's efforts to protect them, her younger stepsisters found out that their father and mother were trapped under the rubble from other children at school.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2025
For a time, the two guitarists were family: He married one of Hendrix’s stepsisters, Marsha Jinka, in 1962, although they had separated by the time Hendrix died in 1970 at 27.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2022
Wearing a raggedy dress and frumpy sweater, she is treated like a lowly servant by her imperious stepmother and snide stepsisters.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2021
That night, while her father and stepmother and stepsisters sat together in the parlor, exclaiming over the gifts he had brought them from Seatown, Ash slipped away from them all.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
