sister-in-law
Americannoun
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sisters-in-law
plural
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the sister of one's spouse.
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the wife of one's brother or sister.
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the wife of one's spouse's sister or brother.
noun
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the sister of one's husband or wife
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the wife of one's brother
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sister-in-law
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English syster in lawe; see origin at sister, in, law 1; from Middle English in-lawe “in law,” i.e., “a person within the regulation and protection of the law,” based on the prohibition by Roman civil law and, later, Christian canon law, of marriages within four degrees of consanguinity, i.e., up to and including first cousins
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:
Did your sister-in-law coerce or somehow pressure him into paying off her $50,000 debt?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
The next day another fire was discovered at the entrance to Sir Keir's Kentish Town home, which he was renting out to his sister-in-law, Judith Alexander.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Rodriguez is survived by his parents, his wife, Sandy, their two sons and his sister-in-law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
In her “wife school” series, Clark interviewed her new sister-in-law, Katie Voetberg, a prairie dress-clad podcast host and mother of six, about how to avoid being a “nagging wife” and a “constant dripping faucet.”
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Arty-tecky,” I once pronounced it to my sister-in-law.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
BBC Urdu's Tarhub Asghar met two sisters-in-law, both nine months pregnant.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025
She exchanged postcards with former sisters-in-law and her first husband’s second wife.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
Keona’s mother, Rochelle, whispered to her sisters-in-law in Filipino.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
Moreno's wife, one of their daughters, two of his brothers and two sisters-in-law are also among those allegedly connected to the case, Salazar said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 22, 2023
Patti starts pointing out faces and naming my father's cousins and their sisters and sisters-in-law and brothers and brothers-in-law.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
