broken home

American  

[broh-kuhn hohm] / ˈbroʊ kən ˈhoʊm /

noun

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

   children from broken homes.

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Etymology

Origin of broken home

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

I didn’t come from a broken home, and I had the best of everything, but, yet, I didn’t have what I would have liked to have had, which is full communication.

From Salon • Jan. 22, 2025

When you come from a broken home, what you want more than anything is to create a family unit, and create something that you didn’t have.

From Slate • May 23, 2023

"I thought it was the right thing to do to keep my family together, I didn't want my children to come from a broken home."

From BBC • May 5, 2022

In 1910 Thelma and her sister, Katherine, escaped their broken home with their mother, Glenna, to reboot in Montana.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2020

Maybe I’m fighting the wind, this place called Detroit, my cousins and their walls, the prison that keeps my mother, my broken home country floating in the middle of a sinking sea.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi