extended family

American  

[ik-sten-did fam-uh-lee, fam lee] / ɪkˈstɛn dɪd ˈfæm ə li, ˈfæm li /

noun

• extended families
  plural

1. a kinship group consisting of a family nucleus and various relatives, as grandparents, usually living in one household and functioning as a larger unit.

2. (loosely) one's family conceived of as including aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and sometimes close friends and colleagues.

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extended family British  

noun

1. sociol anthropol a social unit that contains the nuclear family together with blood relatives, often spanning three or more generations

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extended family Cultural  

1. A type of family in which relatives in addition to parents and children (such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) live in a single household. A nuclear family forms the core of an extended family.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• extended families
  plural

Etymology

Origin of extended family

First recorded in 1940–45

Compare meaning

How does extended-family compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• nuclear family vs. extended family

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

extended family

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

She was raised in a huge extended family — she has 32 aunts and uncles — and remembers a house that was almost constantly full.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

As I began to understand the relationships among so many people, I started to wonder about the extended family of the adults.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

“What, and you’re excited to see your extended family now?”

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• nuclear family