nuclear family

[ noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, fam lee, nyoo- ]

noun

1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children. Compare extended family ( def 1 ), immediate family ( def ).

nuclear family

noun

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

nuclear family

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

Pronunciation Note

See nuclear ( def ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuclear family¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Social scientists such as Eric Klinenberg and Bella DePaulo show that for an increasing number of us, the “traditional” nuclear family model of living, with breadwinner husband, dependent wife and two or three children, is no longer relevant.

From Time

My diagnosis wreaked havoc on each member of my nuclear family, harming them, hurting them, for many years.

From Washington Post

This phrase became a defining characteristic of second wave feminism at a time when women and others challenged the institutions of marriage, the nuclear family and its values and state control of women’s reproductive rights.

From Washington Post

Inside the home, the concept of the nuclear family was shaken by rising divorce rates.

From Eater

The solution was to convert the domestic security of the nation into the domestic security of the nuclear family.

From Washington Blade

The original work of Bowen was focused on the dynamics within a nuclear family.

From The Daily Beast

The nuclear family always, just like religion, must be destroyed and in its place, the community, collective.

From The Daily Beast

I also never had a positive experience with the nuclear family.

From The Daily Beast

It was one thing to defend family values when there was something like the traditional nuclear family.

From The Daily Beast

His aunt, Lilian, who lives with the nuclear family of three, often served as his back-up dancer.

From The Daily Beast

The nuclear family of the civilization of literacy has been absorbed in the illiterate dynamics of societal functioning.

From Project Gutenberg

Within the nuclear family the relationship between husband and wife became a more egalitarian one.

From Project Gutenberg