stepchild
Americannoun
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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
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.
“You don’t want to be the poor stepchild if you have only $350,000 and the adviser’s minimum is $1 million,” Krueger said.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
This is a weak stepchild for these pharmaceutical companies.
From Slate • Dec. 4, 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
West Sacramento has long been the region’s scrawny stepchild of a municipality.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2025
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.
