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Synonyms

nuclear family

American  
[noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, fam lee, nyoo-] / ˈnu kli ər ˈfæm ə li, ˈfæm li, ˈnyu- /

noun

  1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children.

nuclear family British  

noun

  1. sociol anthropol a primary social unit consisting of parents and their offspring Compare extended family

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
nuclear family Cultural  

  1. A type of family made up only of parents and their children. (Compare extended family.)

Pronunciation

See nuclear ( def. ).

Etymology

Origin of nuclear family

First recorded in 1945–50

Compare meaning

How does nuclear-family compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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.