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mail-order bride

American  
[meyl-awr-der brahyd] / ˈmeɪlˌɔr dər ˌbraɪd /

noun

  1. a woman who solicits or accepts a contractual marriage arranged by an agency or brokerage after a period of long-distance courtship, traditionally by written correspondence.


Etymology

Origin of mail-order bride

First recorded in 1905–10

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.

Poor Hank, inevitably stood up by his mail-order bride.

From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2024

Mrs. MacLachlan said the book was inspired by a story her mother had told her about a “wonderful woman who came into the family” as a mail-order bride.

From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2022

The mom comes to the U.S. as a mail-order bride of a Microsoft executive, played by Dan Lauria.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2022

A key figure is her great-great-grandmother, Theresa, a German immigrant who came to Washington as a mail-order bride and died in a mental institution at age 36, a casualty of “melancholia.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2019

As family lore had it, her maternal great-great-grandmother Theressa Finkas emigrated from Germany to Washington State in 1879, as a mail-order bride.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 11, 2019

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