single father

American  

Informal, single dad

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of single father

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

single father

A single father using a community larder to feed his family says he is facing a difficult summer as food donations fall and voucher schemes end.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Though not as rare as having a gold medal, becoming a single father via surrogacy is a pretty select distinction—so select, in fact, that it’s hard to ascertain the exact numbers.

From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026

California surrogacy agency owner Joy Millan said she was approached by a single father in China seeking to hire four surrogates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

Jordan is also a single father to a young son, who has Type 1 diabetes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

If this sounds silly, bear in mind that before the development of modern embryological studies, people had no solid evidence that babies are always sired by a single father rather than by many.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari