single parent

¹ American  

noun

1. a parent or guardian who brings up a child or children alone, without a partner.

   Being a single parent isn’t easy.

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single-parent ² American  

[sing-guhl-pair-uhnt, ‐-par-uhnt] / ˈsɪŋ gəlˈpɛər ənt, ‐ˈpær ənt /

adjective

1. of or noting a family in which a parent brings up a child or children alone, without a partner: a single-parent household.

   a single-parent family;

   a single-parent household.

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single parent British  

noun

1. Also called (NZ): solo parent. 

   1. a person who has a dependent child or dependent children and who is widowed, divorced, or unmarried

   2. ( as modifier )

      a single-parent family

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Etymology

Origin of single parent¹

First recorded in 1850–60

Origin of single-parent²

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

That’s compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased single parent households, she says.

From Los Angeles Times

Sugar is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother.

From BBC

Single parent Kayleigh Glendon, from Kent, had spent about 14 years trying to find out what was wrong before she was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis in 2022.

From BBC

Cummings Koski, a single parent who herself retired with a $1.2 million portfolio at age 49 after aggressively investing for 15 years, supported herself and her teen daughter on about $40,000 to $45,000 during that time and saved the other 30% to 40% of her income.

From MarketWatch

"I was a single parent, bringing up my five-year old daughter. Sophie had only recently started at the local primary school and we were doing well. We had taken our time to get over her mum's death, but we were doing extremely well," he says.

From BBC