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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-sey, -vohr-, -vawr-sey, -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

Without a prenuptial, assets are generally divided 50-50, according to divorce lawyers in Canada, where the couple lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

After a divorce: Divorce is the most obvious trigger — but as Kleinfeldt’s case shows, wanting to update your beneficiary designations isn’t enough.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Kwon is known to have argued that Lee was neither a co-founder nor involved in the company's management, and reportedly opposed the divorce, according to local reports.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

It led to divorce and birthed the series, which aimed to give a glimpse of Utah’s Mormon mom influencers navigating the hyper-conservative religious expectations they live by or grew up in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

It was just like the boat that Dad used to have, that he took Jonah and me out fishing every weekend in, before it was awarded to Mom in the divorce.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

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

A poet turned filmmaker, a husband turned divorcé, a son turned orphan, our hero is caught between who he once was and who he has become.

From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2024

The acclaimed “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” adapted by Taffy Brodesser-Akner from her bestselling 2019 novel, is ostensibly about this Manhattan divorcé and struggling single father, played by Jesse Eisenberg.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

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

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023

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

“The battle over embryos is becoming a big problem in divorces now.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Both stars finalised divorces from their former partners during their time together.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

Lawyers who navigate the system for divorces, custody disputes and family court battles say it will be complicated.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026

Many painted a picture of "destroyed" lives: divorces, losing custody of their children, prison, psychiatric hospitals, and astronomical medical bills in the hope of regaining "a normal, meaningful life."

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

And yet this is a place, he gathers, that people come to seek divorces, dispute wills.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Stewart was also divorced by the time her empire was at its peak — and people also criticized her, for different reasons.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

“After a marriage for this period of time, differentiating between marital and non-marital assets became excessively challenging,” when they got divorced, he says.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Nora, who is divorced and doesn’t have children, moved in with her mom after Covid hit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

Life before then had been untethered - she had moved around, been married, pregnant and divorced before she was 21.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

We were all relieved the divorced years were behind us.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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

“Yes, Tom and I are divorcing, and it is extremely sad,” she said, beginning to cry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, is divorcing him on “biblical grounds,” accusing him of infidelity.

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 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

“My parents are divorcing, Joaquin’s parents want to adopt him, so you better have a good story. And don’t say, ‘I want to find my bio mom,’ or I’ll pinch you harder this time.”

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

Related Words

• annulment
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• split