spinster

American  

[spin-ster] / ˈspɪn stər /

noun

• spinsters
  plural

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

2. Chiefly Law. a woman who has never married.

3. a woman whose occupation is spinning.

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spinster British  

/ ˈspɪnstə /

noun

1. an unmarried woman regarded as being beyond the age of marriage

2. law (in legal documents) a woman who has never married Compare feme sole

3. (formerly) a woman who spins thread for her living

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Sensitive Note

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spinsterhood
  noun
• spinsterish
  adjective
• spinsterlike
  adjective
• spinsterishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spinsters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of spinster

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

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Explanation

A spinster is an older, unmarried woman. Even if you're in awe of your Aunt Sally's glamorous, single life, your grandmother might dismiss her as a spinster. Spinster originally meant "a spinner of thread," and as that was a job typically done by unmarried women, it came to have the meaning — even in legal documents — of "single woman." Another term for spinster is the equally old-fashioned sounding old maid. Either way, it means a woman who never got married. Spinster is not a word you should call anyone: it reduces single women to one detail about their lives.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spinster spinsters

But she brushed off the barbs, saying: "I am toothy, dumpy, ugly, overweight, a spinster – what the hell."

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Regarded in her time as "a reclusive spinster that never left her house", she was determined to be free to pursue a life of artistic expression.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

“I’m a geriatric pregnant spinster who puts crystals in her bra,” Helen says in an unusual moment of self-awareness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025

Ruth Buzzi, famous for her work as handbag-wielding spinster Gladys Ormphby on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” died Thursday, her family announced Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025

To many people the very word conjures up memories of choking on chalk dust and cowering in fear of a thwack on the knuckles from a spinster schoolteacher.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

The closest I have found have been eccentric spinsters and ambivalent parents, in a long line from Doris Lessing and DH Lawrence, Barbara Pym and Rachel Cusk.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2020

"This is the nature of the debate on things this big, like tax reform," Ryan said."You've got pundits and spinsters and all of this spinmeisters out there, you know, confusing the public."

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2017

For the Lowells, it turns out, are a fascinating bunch: spinsters, ministers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, factory builders, poets, college presidents and soldiers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2017

Into this breach steps Bolick, offering her own story as inspiration to other spinsters, but it’s sometimes confusing how she thinks it could help.

From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2015

And yet she could see her two daughters, two spinsters beyond the marriageable age; they were at least twenty-five.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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