stepchild
Americannoun
plural
stepchildren-
a child of one's spouse by a previous marriage.
-
any person, organization, affiliate, project, etc., that is not properly treated, supported, or appreciated.
This agency is the stepchild when appropriations are handed out.
noun
Etymology
Origin of stepchild
before 1000; Middle English; Old English stēopcild. See step-, child
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.
Roan headlined Lollapalooza Brazil over the weekend, and Jorginho was in attendance along with his wife and stepchild.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
One Moneyist Facebook Group member gave the flipside of your dilemma, from the perspective of a stepchild.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 11, 2025
The new proposals, which follow a review, maintain the stepchild rule, though NHS bosses insist no decisions have been made.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024
Under the guise of a vacation, he took his wife, stepchild and five children in 2015 from their Trinidad and Tobago home to Brazil, Turkey and, ultimately, Syria.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2023
Virtually the same applies in Egyptology, in which the study of the Ptolemaic “late period” has long been the neglected stepchild of a discipline engrossed by the Rameseses and Thut- moses of high antiquity.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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.
