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

"Their support has been a big reason why I was the first girl in my immediate family to take up sport seriously," she says, "not least as the youngest among the girls in the family."

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 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

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

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026

Maybe it was the blond wig, but this was the first time I ever thought I actually looked like any of my immediate family.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman