motherless
Britishadjective
adverb
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.
The two motherless African-American children at the heart of “Kin,” Vernice Irene Davis and Annie Kay Henderson, who grow up as “cradle friends” in Honeysuckle, La., are easy to feel for.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Delila Combs, 18, pleaded: "We can't watch our baby sister grow up fatherless the same way we grew up motherless... Please, please give our family the chance to heal."
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2025
Her thoughtful look at how her identity as a refugee intertwines with that of a motherless daughter speaks to feelings both specific to the displaced and familiar to anyone afflicted with loneliness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2023
Along with another motherless mom, she posted fliers for a book group, reading Edelman’s “Motherless Daughters.”
From Seattle Times • May 10, 2023
My mother died when I was quite young, and certainly a motherless girl will come up wanting in some respects, but in my opinion she has a freedom unknown to other daughters.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions 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.
