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:
Hivsa Walid told the BBC she was inside the hospital when the fire broke out, with her sister-in-law who had given birth in the days before.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
For instance, Mr. Nichols tells us early on that Hawthorne’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Peabody, coined the word “transcendentalism.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
I’ve become really close with my sister-in-law, and almost every Sunday, we meet for what we call “tea time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
I confirmed that she was deceased and explained that I was only her former sister-in-law.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
His sister-in-law was still distraught over the loss of her children, and grew even more agitated when they passed a wagon loaded with frightened children.
From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy
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
His mother was ill, so one of her sisters-in-law filled out the registration card and submitted it to the city to produce a birth certificate, Didier Optowsky said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2024
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
Definitions 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.
