fiancé

American  

[fee-ahn-say, fee-ahn-say] / ˌfi ɑnˈseɪ, fiˈɑn seɪ /

Or fiance

noun

• fiancés
  plural

1. a man engaged to be married.

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fiancé British  

/ fɪˈɒnseɪ /

noun

1. a man who is engaged to be married

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Gender

See fiancée.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fiancés
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fiancé

First recorded in 1850–55; from French: “betrothed,” past participle of fiancer, Old French fiancier, verbal derivative of fiance “a promise,” equivalent to fi(er) “to trust” (from unattested Vulgar Latin fīdāre, Latin fīdere ) + -ance noun suffix; see -ance, -ee

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Explanation

The minute you get down on one knee and ask a man to marry you — assuming he says "yes" — he becomes your fiancé, or the man you are engaged to marry. Fiancé comes from French; in fact, it is so French that it even has masculine and feminine versions (like many nouns in French). If you're talking about a woman, you would call her a fiancée rather than a fiancé, which is used only to refer to men. The Latin root of fiancé, which is spelled the same way, means "a promise," so you can think of becoming someone's fiance as a promise you're making to go through with the marriage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fiancé fiancés

Reality star Savannah Chrisley on Tuesday announced her pregnancy and engagement to her mystery fiancé, finally revealing that his name is Jason after months of secrecy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

I’m 28 years old, originally from South Carolina, and currently splitting the rent on an overpriced apartment in New York City with my fiancé.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Guilfoyle had spent weeks calling people around her former fiancé asking how the two could reunite, some of whom began to float the idea of various ambassadorships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

While my fiancé works multiple part-time jobs following a layoff in March, I’ve temporarily taken on a $2,250 share of our nearly $4,000 rent.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Not content to show up under the canopy wearing her charity clothes, one particular bride-to-be had her fiancé barter cigarettes with a soldier for his old parachute, which had the perfect drape for a gown.

From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper

Fathers, husbands, brothers, fiancés and others separate daily from wives and children, mothers, sisters and girlfriends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2022

Hitch appeared in the second season of the popular reality show, which sees people from foreign countries travel to the United States for 90 days to live with their American fiancés for the first time.

From Fox News ● Dec. 15, 2021

“Without the park, people would be effectively separated from their spouses, fiancés and partners.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2021

There are enough holiday movies about single people bringing fake fiancés home for Christmas that it’s become a genre unto itself.

From Slate ● Nov. 19, 2020

And it sounds like they’re talking about their fiancés, but they’re talking about a frothy mixture of tulle and lace?

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

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Related Words

• affianced
• affianced person
• betrothed
• engaged person
• future mate
• groom-to-be
• husband-to-be
• intended
• prospective spouse

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