stepchild
Americannoun
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stepchildren
plural
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a child of one's spouse by a previous marriage.
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
An afterthought if not a redheaded stepchild, though expect affronted fellow media outlets to freak out because of what NBC News once was, not what it is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
One Moneyist Facebook Group member gave the flipside of your dilemma, from the perspective of a stepchild.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2025
Mr Gupta said most people don't think about the service sector during a period of uncertainty, calling it the "unloved stepchild" of the economy.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
“And Austin is the bastard stepchild of Texas and it’s just a place that I love. I’m pinching myself that this is all coming together like this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
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
I was 39, already twice divorced and desperate to outrun the pain of losing my husband and three stepchildren just five months prior.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
At the time, she had a five-month-old baby and two stepchildren.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
After a fall shatters his ankle, his stepchildren dump him with his daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
That would not be an uncommon or unreasonable thing to do, so your stepchildren can wait their sweet time for their share of this family home.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026
Tacitus says that, having secretly overthrown her stepchildren in their prosperity, it was her custom to make an open show of compassion toward them in their adversity.
From Roman Women by Alfred Brittain
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.
