extended family
Americannoun
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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.
"We did not evolve to raise children with as little extended family and community support as most American parents have now," says Dr. Barish, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
From Science Daily • Jun. 13, 2026
The squad will be granted extended family time over the weekend in Boston, something that was not such a luxury in Germany two years ago.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
They’re also at times footing the bill for their extended family.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Much of her extended family was murdered by the Germans, but “the investment in Holocaust education has been a huge mistake,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Corn, their staple crop, was stored in granaries and distributed equitably by clan mothers, the oldest woman from each extended family.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
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.
