stepfather

American  

[step-fah-ther] / ˈstɛpˌfɑ ðər /

noun

stepfathers plural

1. the husband, by a later marriage, of one's parent.

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stepfather British  

/ ˈstɛpˌfɑːðə /

noun

1. a man who has married one's mother after the death or divorce of one's father

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stepfatherly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stepfathers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stepfather

First recorded before 900; Middle English stepfader, Old English stēopfæder; step- + father ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stepfather stepfathers

He and his stepfather arrived at the scene later in the day to retrieve the motorcycle, with police still in the area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Kohn said her mother and stepfather broke “the blessing” and got divorced a few years after the wedding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

The family finally received a payout last Thursday, but with no paperwork to go along with it - and no sign of the ongoing pension payments due to Rachel's stepfather.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

"Justice has finally been done for our son. He will now be able to rest in peace," Jonathan's stepfather told the press.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Lindsey spent her summers with her father—he was working some construction thing near Roundup—and the school year with her mother and stepfather in Seattle.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth

One of those he investigated was Matthew White, and Clive told an extraordinary tale of finding that an approach by one of White's stepfathers had been disastrously mishandled by the Met in 1993.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2023

And among those to be celebrated, according to NRF, are fathers, stepfathers, husbands, sons, grandfathers, brothers, godfathers, friends, or another relative who is like a father.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 18, 2022

Her parents were not married, and she had several stepfathers, the result being a fluidity in her surname, the New York Times reported in an obituary.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2017

Ditto became a straight-talking icon, as happy to discuss her challenging upbringing with her God-fearing mother and various stepfathers as she was the political, cultural, gender and sexuality issues that fired and inspired her.

From The Guardian ● May 28, 2017

I suppose stepfathers have been a very estimable class, by the way, as it is the stepmother who always drops in for it in the story-books.

From Birds of Prey by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)