immediate family

[ih-mee-dee-it fam-uh-lee, fam lee]

noun

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of immediate family¹

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

Being in the same room as an immediate family member but not being able to truly communicate with them is inherently bleak.

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About 48% of the incoming students are the first in their immediate families to attend college.

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Only those with immediate family in the UK, such as a parent or child, will be able to use Article 8 as grounds to stay.

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Even when I was working on deadline or exhausted from parenting young children, I made time for a social life beyond my immediate family.

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The scandal that has engulfed Andrew is of his own making, but it has had a profound impact on his immediate family: his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and their two daughters.

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