stepmother

American  

[step-muhth-er] / ˈstɛpˌmʌð ər /

noun

stepmothers plural

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

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stepmother British  

/ ˈstɛpˌmʌðə /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stepmotherliness
  noun
• stepmotherly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stepmothers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stepmother

First recorded before 900; Middle English stepmoder, Old English stēopmōdor; step- + mother ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stepmother stepmothers

“There needs to be accountability here,” said Jennifer Wade, whose stepmother lives in Silverado.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

“If you fail to make a plan, you’re planning to fail,” she remembers telling her dad, Hank Heystek, and stepmother, Marjorie.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

And should Flavio Bolsonaro's fortunes worsen further in this year's election campaign, his stepmother will have put sufficient distance between them, she said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

Shaw said she could still recall the moment she and her crying stepmother confronted the thief and asked him if he had any idea what it was like to lose a child.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

He examined my face, and his lips were about to utter something, when my stepmother came out.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

And you thought spiteful stepmothers wreaked havoc only in fairy tales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

My tone may sound alarmist, but it’s my attempt to be realistic, especially based on the number of letters I receive from and about stepmothers in this column.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 20, 2026

“You might not have that money, but you have siblings, you have stepmothers, you have mothers — you have relationships and the complexities of blended families.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2022

Whatever rehabilitation wicked stepmothers have undergone of late encounters a setback in “White as Snow.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 12, 2021

Mother looked him directly in the eyes and said, “Your father is a good man and he loves you very much. He just seems to attract the wrong stepmothers for you boys.”

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah