spinster

[ spin-ster ]

/ ˈspɪn stər /

noun

Disparaging and Offensive. a woman still unmarried beyond the usual age of marrying.

Chiefly Law. a woman who has never married.

a woman whose occupation is spinning.

Words nearby spinster

spinous process, spinoza, spinoza, benedict, spinozism, spinproof, spinster, spinthariscope, spinto, spinule, spiny, spiny anteater

Origin of spinster

1325–75; Middle English spinnestere a woman who spins. See spin, -ster

OTHER WORDS FROM spinster

spin·ster·hood, nounspin·ster·ish, adjectivespin·ster·ish·ly, adverbspin·ster·like, adjective

usage note for spinster

The meaning “a woman beyond the usual marriageable age” is used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. It implies negative qualities such as being fussy or undesirable. See also old maid.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spinsterhood

An elderly female relative, who has been dragging her spinsterhood about these—how many years shall we say?
The Virginians|William Makepeace Thackeray
But the shadow of spinsterhood had hardly yet begun to throw itself across their breezy path.
Abington Abbey|Archibald Marshall
May not our Mrs. Quickly have been celebrated as the hostess of the Boar's Head in her spinsterhood?
The Life Of Sir John Falstaff|Robert B. Brough
Of course, many a spinster has gone to a satisfied grave in complete contentment over a life of spinsterhood.
Stubble|George Looms

She thinks he has forgotten her, and allows herself to externally fade into spinsterhood.
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man|Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman

British Dictionary definitions for spinsterhood

spinster

/ (ˈspɪnstə) /

noun

an unmarried woman regarded as being beyond the age of marriage

law (in legal documents) a woman who has never marriedCompare feme sole

(formerly) a woman who spins thread for her living

Derived forms of spinster

spinsterhood, nounspinsterish, adjective

Word Origin for spinster

C14 (in the sense: a person, esp a woman, whose occupation is spinning; C17: a woman still unmarried): from spin + -ster

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012