materfamilias
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of materfamilias
First recorded in 1750–60; from Latin; cf. paterfamilias
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.
The film earned five Oscar nominations, including a best supporting actress nod for the veteran Billie Burke as the materfamilias of a wealthy but wacky family.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The novel recounts the history and hardships of the Binewski clan, carnival folk whose pater- and materfamilias, Al and Crystal Lil, create their own freak show.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2022
If all you need from the new “Roseanne” is Ms. Barr’s materfamilias sarcasm, the crack team of comedy actors surrounding her and an update of the show’s working-class gallows humor, it has you covered.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2018
Either way, to read that final sentence is to detect a sulphurous whiff of Kardashian materfamilias Kris, who will have regarded the furore engulfing her daughter as a major injustice.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 6, 2017
She, as an old materfamilias, knew that people were not born in bust shape; then why should they be thus represented?
From Fragments of an Autobiography by Moscheles, Felix
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.
