stepchild
Americannoun
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stepchildren
plural
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a child of one's spouse by a previous marriage.
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any person, organization, affiliate, project, etc., that is not properly treated, supported, or appreciated.
This agency is the stepchild when appropriations are handed out.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stepchild
before 1000; Middle English; Old English stēopcild. See step-, child
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:
An afterthought if not a redheaded stepchild, though expect affronted fellow media outlets to freak out because of what NBC News once was, not what it is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
“You don’t want to be the poor stepchild if you have only $350,000 and the adviser’s minimum is $1 million,” Krueger said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
The new proposals, which follow a review, maintain the stepchild rule, though NHS bosses insist no decisions have been made.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
“And Austin is the bastard stepchild of Texas and it’s just a place that I love. I’m pinching myself that this is all coming together like this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
Virtually the same applies in Egyptology, in which the study of the Ptolemaic “late period” has long been the neglected stepchild of a discipline engrossed by the Rameseses and Thut- moses of high antiquity.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Gray is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray; his stepchildren Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper; and son-in-law Lee Barker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Jones is survived by Viator, his fifth wife; his three children, Rachel, Jeanne and Walker; three stepchildren and 10 grandchildren, according to the New York Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
At the time, she had a five-month-old baby and two stepchildren.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
After a fall shatters his ankle, his stepchildren dump him with his daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
Her stepchildren, as provided in the contract, were to have their full inheritances left them by their father.
From Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century by Annie Lash Jester
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
