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

Fortunately for her, none of her immediate family died in the Venezuela earthquakes which are estimated to have killed at least 6,300 people.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

“I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians,” she said in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

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

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

From Barron's ● May 9, 2026

All of his immediate family, his wife Clytemnestra, his children, Iphigenia, Orestes and Electra, were as well known as he was.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton