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broken home

American

[broh-kuhn hohm] / ˈbroʊ kən ˈhoʊm /

noun

a family in which one parent is absent, usually due to divorce or desertion.

children from broken homes.

Etymology

Origin of broken home

First recorded in 1840–50

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.

Wiggins - a gangly north Londoner, from a broken home, brought up in poverty - made it to the very top of a sport that requires clinical preparation and a calm head under pressure.

From BBC • May 13, 2025

"Sick person" is an identity category Frances finds herself uneasily inhabiting, much like "younger mistress" or "child of a broken home."

From Salon • May 24, 2022

Once, two sisters approached her on the Venice boardwalk to tell her how they’d come from a broken home and Punky helped them get through it.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2021

The final resting place of a failed business or broken home?

From Slate • Jul. 25, 2020

Hixon: But he was from a broken home too.

From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023