significant other

American  

noun

significant others plural

1. Sociology. a person, as a parent or peer, who has great influence on one's behavior and self-esteem.

2. a spouse or cohabiting lover. SO, S.O.

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significant other British  

noun

1. informal a spouse or lover

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• significant others
  plural

Compare meaning

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

• significant other vs. girlfriend

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

significant other

Participants also answered questions about how satisfied they felt with their spouse or significant other, how much conflict they experienced in communication, and how confident they were that their relationship would last.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2026

Here are the facts: Spousal benefits, which you can only claim while your significant other is alive — and after they have started benefits — do not include delayed credits.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025

The FBI thought the lead was promising enough to launch an undercover investigation, people familiar with it said, with a covert agent befriending the woman’s significant other to elicit new clues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

Under no circumstances, that is, do we approve of Surge content being consumed in a bathroom by someone who has already told their significant other that they’ll “be down in a minute.”

From Slate ● Jul. 26, 2025

What they found was there was a decided increase in the sense of urgency when the text came from a significant other, as opposed to a friend or more distant acquaintance.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel