in-law
Americannoun
-
in-laws
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of in-law
First recorded in 1890–95; back formation from mother-in-law, brother-in-law, etc.
Explanation
An in-law is someone who is a relative because of marriage, like your husband's sister or your wife's father. You can refer to your spouse's entire family as your in-laws. In some countries, a married woman moves in with her in-laws, symbolically becoming part of their family. In the U.S. some families live with extended family members — a man may live with his wife, kids, and his mother- and father-in-law — but more often each individual nuclear family lives separately. In-law originally meant "anyone of a relationship not natural" or "not by blood."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pregnancy for Hedda is as distasteful a matter as these in-law intrusions, but it’s clear that George didn’t spend his entire honeymoon in the library and that the marriage plot has got ahead of her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
There’s also a lower-level lounge, media room, wine cellar, an in-law suite, and a home gym.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025
Sarraj reunited with other relatives, too, and said he learned of the deaths of an in-law, an uncle, a friend, his grandfather and a cousin, as well as the destruction of his home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
She might be your aunt or an in-law.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2025
He did not tell me that it was my brother- in-law, and I was surprised but not displeased to see him.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
She shares a house with her in-laws, her husband and their young son.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
The auditor, his wife, two children and in-laws had arrived in Cyprus hours before the incident.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
When Katie Shepherd and her family relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to Austin, Texas, in 2022 for her husband’s job, the in-laws followed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
“One of Us” is about your brother-in-law, which made me realize how few people write songs about their in-laws.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
He imagined her complaining, and Gillian sympathizing about visits from in-laws.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
