stepchild

[ step-chahyld ]

/ ˈstɛpˌtʃaɪld /

noun, plural step·child·ren.

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.

Nearby words

step-parent, step-up, stepanakert, stepbrother, stepchair, stepchild, stepdame, stepdance, stepdaughter, stepfamily, stepfather

Origin of stepchild

before 1000; Middle English; Old English stēopcild. See step-, child

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stepchild

Being a stepchild, she noted, set her as an outsider within a family, and gave her a yearning to conform.
The Book on Aging Rockers|Jane Ciabattari|June 29, 2010|DAILY BEAST
You see I'm—I mean I was a stepchild 'long as father was here.
Mary-'Gusta|Joseph C. Lincoln
So, for the first time in their lives, met the child and the stepchild of Louise Duval.
The Parisians, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
And she had half-a-dozen servants; the tenor's stepchild was wheeled to the Heath now in fine apparel by a competent nurse.
The Quaint Companions|Leonard Merrick

It was a stepchild among camps, neither attractive enough to be loved nor disagreeable enough to be hated and reviled.
A Padre in France|George A. Birmingham
She not only despised but hated her stepchild from the moment that she saw her.
Warriors of Old Japan and Other Stories|Yei Theodora Ozaki

British Dictionary definitions for stepchild

stepchild

/ (ˈstɛpˌtʃaɪld) /

noun plural -children

a stepson or stepdaughter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012