extended family
Americannoun
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extended families
plural
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a kinship group consisting of a family nucleus and various relatives, as grandparents, usually living in one household and functioning as a larger unit.
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(loosely) one's family conceived of as including aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and sometimes close friends and colleagues.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of extended family
First recorded in 1940–45
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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.
Few if any of them will ever before have seen money like that in their extended family.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Awoniyi has brought members of his extended family to the ceremony, while Dewsbury-Hall seeks out former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill, now working in Qatari football, to discuss the art of scoring goals.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Behind the scenes, the FBI saw in emails and company records, Kao orchestrated over $40,000 in donations from extended family in advance of the event.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Galicia was preaching at his church in South L.A. when flames engulfed his home, where he lived with an extended family of 10.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
In the early 1800s, a community comprised chiefly of extended family had developed on this preserve.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
