Synonyms

out of wedlock

Idioms

Of parents not legally married, as in Over the centuries many royal children were born out of wedlock. The noun wedlock, for the state of being married, is rarely heard today except in this phrase, first recorded in 1675; its converse, in wedlock, dates from the 1300s and is even more rarely used.

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:

out of wedlock

An account of the candidate’s old-fashioned embarrassment, expressed to Mr. Devine, about having a child out of wedlock is practically endearing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Maternity homes were popular before Roe as a place where usually teen mothers went to secretly have babies that were conceived out of wedlock.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2025

Women brought the victims to her, babies born out of wedlock, perhaps one too many for a household or the mother too young.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

Catherine gave birth in an orphanage in Dublin and, because of attitudes at the time about children born out of wedlock, she was coerced into giving Gladys up for adoption.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024

Mom tells me that Abuela Zaida had all her sons out of wedlock in Costa Rica then convinced my grandfather he should marry her and move to Cuba.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023