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• divorce
  divorce

  noun

  the act of legally ending a marriage.
• divorcé
  divorcé

  noun

  a divorced man.

divorce

¹ American  

[dih-vawrs] / dɪˈvɔrs /

noun

• divorces
  plural

1. the act of legally ending a marriage.

   After the divorce, they shared custody of the children.

2. any formal separation of spouses according to established custom.

3. the act of legally ending a formal contract before its term is up, especially in professional sports.

   If there’s a personality clash between the player and the manager, divorce may be the only way out.

   It’s a guide to corporate divorce, laying out who pays what to whom at the early termination of a contract.

4. a total separation between two things; disunion.

   Activists denounced the divorce between thought and action when it came to protecting human rights.

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verb (used with object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end the marriage contract between oneself and (one's spouse).

   She divorced her husband.

2. to permanently separate (a couple) through a judicial declaration that ends their marriage contract.

   The judge divorced the couple.

3. to separate or cut off.

   His view of the situation has become totally divorced from reality.

   Synonyms:

   disjoin, detach, sever, disconnect, divide, dissociate, rupture, disjunction, dissolution, breakup, annulment

verb (used without object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end one’s marriage.

   After 16 years together, they divorced.

   I never thought about money till I divorced.

divorcé ² American  

[dih-vawr-say, -vohr-, -vawr-say, -vohr-] / dɪ vɔrˈseɪ, -voʊr-, -ˈvɔr seɪ, -ˈvoʊr- /

noun

1. a divorced man.

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divorce ¹ British  

/ dɪˈvɔːs /

noun

1. the dissolution of a marriage by judgment of a court or by accepted custom

2. a judicial decree declaring a marriage to be dissolved

3. a separation, esp one that is total or complete

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verb

1. to separate or be separated by divorce; give or obtain a divorce (to a couple or from one's spouse)

2. (tr) to remove or separate, esp completely

divorcé ² British  

/ dɪˈvɔːseɪ /

noun

1. a man who has been divorced

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Gender

See fiancée.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• divorcer
  noun
• divorceable
  adjective
• divorcive
  adjective
• nondivorced
  adjective
• undivorceable
  adjective
• undivorced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• divorces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divorce¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin dīvortium “separation,” from dīvort(ere) variant of dīvertere “to turn away” ( see divert) + -ium -ium

Origin of divorcé²

First recorded in 1805–15; from French, noun use of masculine past participle of divorcer, from Medieval Latin dīvortiāre “to divorce,” derivative of Latin dīvortium “separation”; see divorce

Explanation

A divorce is a formal ending of a marriage. It’s more permanent than a separation and involves a legal process. If you get a divorce, that means the marriage is officially over. Divorce has both a noun and a verb form. The noun describes the thing you get — "you are getting a divorce." And the verb describes the thing you do — "you are divorcing your spouse." Divorce can also be used more broadly to describe any major separation. You might know of a politician who divorces himself from a controversial issue — that means he doesn’t want to be associated with it at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divorce divorcé divorces divorced divorcing

She even asked if she could have visiting rights, in a similar way to a parent in a divorce.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Surveillance may be less of a concern in other families where divorce and estrangement aren’t part of the equation.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

I talk about my parent’s divorce and my upcoming special.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

So on the red carpet of Carla’s big event, with Morgan on her arm, Cathcarts serves her with divorce papers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Rachel’s divorce had not been legally granted at the time of their wedding, so Rachel Robards was still married to her first husband when she married Andrew Jackson, a crime known as bigamy.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Yet the song was actually Mellencamp’s response to the emptiness he felt as a famous divorcé on the road playing the biggest concerts of his life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

And there’s the leering, preening Rupert Mannion from “Ted Lasso” — multimillionaire soccer team owner, inveterate philanderer and incurably vindictive divorcé.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

The 66-year-old divorcé had just started seeing someone.

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023

This German comedy about a divorcé who goes to extreme lengths to spend time with his daughter earned glowing reviews, despite running for a posterior-numbing two hours and 42 minutes.

From BBC ● May 22, 2016

First the twain fall desperately in love, and Edith, the Catholic, discovers Ben to be an innocent divorcé.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, September 26, 1917 by Various

Spencer’s motivations for writing the book quickly came under scrutiny, with parts of the British media suggesting Spencer may want to cash in after three divorces.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

I’ve also heard from various people telling me their whole financial picture, down to the pennies in their accounts, and the ins and outs of their divorces, estate fights and bad relationships with financial professionals.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

But what if she divorces her second husband?

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

"Working has kept me young, vigorous, energetic, knowledgeable, fun," said Cohen, who has represented celebrities in their divorces, including former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

I would like to let the record show that Ali and Shohreh probably had the most amicable divorce in the history of divorces.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

Tammy Faye stayed with her husband throughout the trial but divorced him in 1992 while he was in prison.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

And: “If your son died, became disabled, divorced or declared bankruptcy and could no longer afford to pay the mortgage, what would happen to you then?”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

He was married to media personality Price at the time of the alleged incidents, before the couple's relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Years later, when Princess Diana announced to her brother that she was getting divorced, he expressed support but also concern.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

When his mother first told him about the “problems,” all Genie could think about was what his friend Marshé Brown told him when her parents got divorced, and how she never saw her father again.

From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds

Finally, the Sun splashes on the marriage breakup of Katie Price and her "conman hubby", as the paper puts it, with: "Katie: I'm divorcing you, Lee."

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Tom Segura is finally addressing the news that he and Christina Pazsitzky are divorcing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

According to the law offices of Christopher Le, divorcing for the sole purpose of obtaining benefits may be viewed as an attempt to manipulate the system.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

People 50 or older now make up nearly 40% of the divorcing population, up from just 8% in 1990, according to research from Bowling Green State University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

Abuelita said that Papá was divorcing Mamá, but she didn’t mention that he had another woman and two other daughters.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• annulment
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• split