immediate family

American  

[ih-mee-dee-it fam-uh-lee, fam lee] / ɪˈmi di ɪt ˈfæm ə li, ˈfæm li /

noun

immediate families plural

1. a social unit consisting of people who are very closely related, usually including parents, siblings, spouses, and children, or the members of this social unit.

   Benefits include free medical treatment for the employee and immediate family.

   Members of her immediate family and several former colleagues were also in attendance.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• immediate families
  plural

Etymology

Origin of immediate family

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

immediate family

In the U.S., employees can take up to nine weeks of leave annually to care for immediate family members who are critically or terminally ill.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

In April, Akram lost a court bid to suppress the identity of his immediate family due to safety concerns.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

Like all those outside, he worries constantly for his immediate family, who luckily all survived the war.

From Barron's ● May 9, 2026

“I do not have any inheritance from anyone coming my way as I lost most of my immediate family when young.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

At that point no one in Henrietta’s immediate family except Deborah seemed particularly upset about Henrietta’s story or the existence of those cells.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot