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.
“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
The family is now calling for his body to be brought back to India and seeking financial assistance from the government, saying he was the household's sole breadwinner.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 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
Katherine was now the mother and father, the love and the discipline, the carrot and the stick, and the sole breadwinner.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
