father-in-law
Americannoun
-
fathers-in-law
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of father-in-law
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fader in lawe; see origin at father, in, law 1; from Middle English in-lawe “in law,” i.e., “a person within the regulation and protection of the law,” based on the prohibition by Roman civil law and, later, Christian canon law, of marriages within four degrees of consanguinity, i.e., up to and including first cousins
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.
See Examples For:
So is her father-in-law, who has diabetes and is recovering from colon cancer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
My father-in-law recently passed away, and my husband is the executor of his estate.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Kushner’s, on the other hand, is primarily influenced by his alleged business savvy; like his father-in-law, he sees everything through the lens of a win-win real estate deal.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Miller denies any wrongdoing, claims his ex-wife has struggled with “significant mental health challenges,” and has accused his former father-in-law of spreading “lies.”
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Aureliano, pale, mysterious, continued playing dominoes with his father-in-law.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Fathers, fathers-in-law, and brothers of current Royals players and staff travel with the group.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Each of the sons’ fathers-in-law also had accounts at the bank worth millions of dollars, as did other businessmen linked to the Mubaraks, whom Egyptian authorities tried on corruption charges.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
About 35 to 40 percent of Purush Spandana will be purchased by women, who hope that by casually leaving a copy around the house, their husbands, fathers-in-law or sons may give it a glance.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2012
And Paul finally realizes that his office/apartment/mole cave of blurry boundaries, provocative teenagers and angry fathers-in-law from exotic complicated countries, does not, right now, feel like the best place to raise a 12-year-old.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2010
It setteth at variance fathers-in-law and the kinsmen of the daughter-in-law; it sundereth the wife and the husband.
From The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke'Gemni The Oldest Books in the World by Ptahhotep
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.
