half sister
noun
Jump To:
-
half sister
-
half-sister
half-sisternounthe daughter of either of one's parents by another partner
half sister
Americannoun
-
half sisters
plural
half-sister
British
noun
Usage
What does half sister mean? A half sister is a sister who is related to her sibling(s) through only one parent. This typically means that they share only one biological parent (not both). For example, when a person’s parent has a daughter with another partner (who is not the person’s parent), the daughter is considered the person’s half sister. The term half brother is used in the same way. Half-sibling is a gender-neutral way of saying the same thing. In contrast, the words stepsister, stepbrother, and stepsibling refer to those who have a sibling relationship (often based on the remarriage of their parents to other partners) but who do not share a biological parent. The word half in half sister and its related terms only refers to the biological relationship. Half sisters may have close relationships with their siblings, and many people simply call their half sister their sister. Modifiers such as maternal and paternal are sometimes used to specify which biological parent the siblings have in common. Example: Over the holidays, I got together with my maternal half sister and my paternal half brother and we had a great time.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of half sister
Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200
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:
Ms. Kuehn met her father’s half sister, Ruth, only once, in 1987.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
Emily's half sister, Natali Hand, has issued an appeal to the Irish government to help "get her back".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2023
Breasia was the half sister of Dinkins’ son, and investigators have said both children were staying the night with him at the apartment where he was living with a girlfriend.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Paparazzi spotted Corinne, her half sister Anelise and Anelise’s mom, Kristin Grannis, at the facility in May.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2023
Barack also spoke affectionately of another half sister in Nairobi, named Auma.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
He will not be part of Belgium's royal line of succession, unlike his half-sister Princess Louise and half-brothers Prince Aymeric and Prince Nicolas.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The irony is that Sally was also Martha’s half-sister — the product of John Wayles’ relations with an enslaved woman — making her biological kin to the Monticello Association members, too.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
In recent months, he ventured underground, sleeping in New York City’s subway tunnels, according to his half-sister, who requested anonymity to speak freely about her younger brother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The couple lived in the block of flats with the boy's siblings - his 12-year-old sister and 10-year-old half-sister.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
“His mother will treat you like a servant . . .” chided one half-sister upon hearing the other’s choice.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
