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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

Blackstock, who died in August 2025 at the age of 48, purchased the Butte, Mont., property in April 2022 for an undisclosed amount, just one month after his divorce from Clarkson was finalized.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The book, expanded from what he wrote for them, includes his training, pending divorce, joking asides and playing for high stakes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Paxton moved out of the Collin County home in June 2024 and has not returned, according to a divorce filing by his wife and a source close to the Paxton family.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

A businesswoman who fraudulently claimed about £200,000 in Covid loans because of a "messy divorce" has been jailed.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Another abolitionist criticized Anthony for taking a position on the issue of divorce.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

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

Described in court as an "adoring father", the divorcé had came out as gay relatively late in life.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2019

And thus began my new life as a divorcé.

From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2013

He was neither bachelor, husband, nor widower; he was not even a divorcé.

From We Can't Have Everything by Hughes, Rupert

But what if she divorces her second husband?

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jun. 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

“Having gone through two divorces herself,” her law firm’s webpage bio reads, “Dana feels she brings a special nuance to her family law cases.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

How many divorces had Atticus gotten for Zeebo?

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee

The divorced aspiring actor “filmed every second of my life” when she was a youngster, noting that the two were inseparable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Hannah's parents divorced when she was a toddler and she hasn't had much of a relationship with her dad since.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

A whole new genre of celebrity divorce: Slate’s Scaachi Koul considers how Bunnie Xo, an archetypical “Cool Girl,” seems to have masterminded a new strategy for getting divorced in the public eye.

From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026

One woman raised five kids and then got divorced.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

After Anna had divorced him, she had denied him any inheritance, leaving virtually all of her fortune to Lizzie.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Bill Eddy, a longtime conflict resolution specialist, also describes relationship dynamics between siblings that can be similar to a divorcing couple trying to make it work for the kids.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 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

The pair announced their separation in 2024, with a spokesperson saying "their marriage is over and they are in the process of divorcing".

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 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