hypergamy

[hahy-pur-guh-mee]

noun

1. the practice among Hindu women of marrying into a caste at least as high as their own.

hypergamy

/ haɪˈpɜːɡəmɪ /

noun

1. anthropol a custom that forbids a woman to marry a man of lower social status

2. any marriage with a partner of higher social status

Other Word Forms

• hypergamous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypergamy¹

First recorded in 1880–85; hyper- + -gamy

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypergamy¹

C19: from _hyper- + _-gamy

Example Sentences

For incels, hypergamy means that women will always "trade" their partner for a more attractive man.

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Incels see Tinder and Instagram as gasoline on the fire of lookism and hypergamy.

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They argue that women only pursue the most attractive men, which they call "hypergamy."

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Psychologists have terms for this behavior of selecting mates outside one’s own group: “hypergamy” and “hypogamy,” for marrying up or down, respectively, but as with most technical jargon, the scholarly vocab contributes little.

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It includes a section on “hypergamy,” or what used to be known as marrying up.

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When To Use

What does hypergamy mean?

Hypergamy is the practice of marrying above one's social status or class (i.e., "marrying up").What are some other words related to hypergamy?

• monogamy



• polygamy



• caste



• hypogamy