spousal
Americannoun
adjective
noun
adjective
Usage
What does spousal mean? Spousal means relating to or involving marriage. The word marital can often be used to mean the same thing. Spousal is an adjective form of spouse—the person who someone is married to (their partner in marriage). A spouse who’s a man is often called a husband, while a spouse who’s a woman is often called a wife. The word partner is a gender-neutral way to refer to one’s spouse. People most commonly use one of these terms when talking about or introducing their spouse, as opposed to using the word spouse. The word spouse is more commonly used in formal or official contexts, such as on forms that require family relations to be specified. Spousal is used in terms referring to such relationships or situations involving them, such as spousal benefits and spousal counseling. Sadly, one of the most common uses of spousal is in the term spousal abuse, which specifically refers to abuse of the person that one is married to. (The broader term domestic abuse typically refers to abuse of someone within one’s household.)Much less commonly, spousal can be used as a noun, especially in the plural form spousals, meaning a marriage ceremony. The word nuptials means the same thing but is much more common. Example: Does this insurance plan provide spousal coverage?
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spousal
1250–1300; Middle English spousaille, aphetic variant of espousaille espousal
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.
The spousal role on state visits has traditionally been decorative: waving, smiling and visiting cultural venues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
If your friend’s spouse were still alive, he would also have been eligible for spousal benefits, receiving up to 50% of his wife’s benefits, assuming that amount was higher than his own Social Security benefits.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
These legal contracts — signed before a couple gets married — outline how the pair will handle assets, debts and spousal support if they get divorced, or if one partner dies.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
For married couples, that could include contributing to a spousal IRA on behalf of the nonworking spouse or setting aside additional retirement savings with both partners’ futures in mind.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
Shall she see her spousal and her home, her parents and children, attended by a crowd of Trojan women and Phrygians to serve her? and Priam have fallen under the sword?
From The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil
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.
