stepmother

[ step-muhth-er ]

/ ˈstɛpˌmʌð ər /

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noun

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

QUIZ

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Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

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whom

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Also called step·mom [step-mom] /ˈstɛpˌmɒm/ .

Origin of stepmother

First recorded before 900; Middle English stepmoder, Old English stēopmōdor; step- + mother¹

OTHER WORDS FROM stepmother

step·moth·er·ly, adverbstep·moth·er·li·ness, noun

Words nearby stepmother

Stephenville, step-in, step into, step into someone's shoes, stepladder, stepmother, Stepney, step-off, step-on, Step on a crack, break your mother's back, step on it

How to use stepmother in a sentence

Billy Porter plays the Fairy Godmother, while fairy-tale icon Idina Menzel plays the villainous stepmother.
The 23 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2021|Andrew R. Chow|August 26, 2021|Time
His father was distant and chilly, and then later, there was the evil stepmother.
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: The Bountiful Life of Vartan Gregorian|Richard Stengel|April 18, 2021|Time
She’s desperate to visit her father, who is vaccinated, but is waiting to make the trip, since her stepmother isn’t vaccinated and she hasn’t gotten her own second dose.
How Social Lives Are Changing During the U.S. Vaccine Rollout|Jamie Ducharme|March 23, 2021|Time
That night, I went to meet with Kooper’s father and stepmother at their house, which sits out on the edge of town, near a small cattle farm.
The Lost Year: What the Pandemic Cost Teenagers|by Alec MacGillis, photography by Celeste Sloman|March 8, 2021|ProPublica

My father and stepmother found me, at the very beginning of the episode, having paranoid delusions.
I Avoided Facing My Mental Illness for Decades. The Pandemic Changed That|Jaquira Díaz|March 3, 2021|Time
This was said to have created tension between his two grown daughters and their stepmother, who were known not to get along.
Would You Stay in Lizzie Borden’s Ax-Murder House?|Nina Strochlic|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her father and stepmother both beat her, and she was forced to become a maid in her own house.
How One Young Woman Escaped Childhood Abuse and a Forced Marriage|Moral Courage|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On December 18, Kerri and her brother, Mike, told Piers Morgan on CNN about their grievances with their stepmother.
Casey Kasem's Family's Top 40 Meltdown Moments|Tim Teeman|June 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My stepmother knew Rabbi Kahane through her political activism in the 80's and remained close with some of his confidantes.
My Former Life As a Kahanist Posterboy|Zack Parker|June 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
My relationship with Kahanism began in 2004, at the age of 10, when I moved to Israel to live with my father and stepmother.
My Former Life As a Kahanist Posterboy|Zack Parker|June 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Upon the death of his stepmother, his stepfather arranged to get him appointed to West Point.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia|Dorothy M. Torpey
They have only one servant; and my stepmother and sisters do the greater part of the work.
Mary Gray|Katharine Tynan
Her stepmother shed a few tears, which were half-gratification.
Mary Gray|Katharine Tynan
He knew that she must have been poor and left in want when her stepmother had died.
An Old Man's Love|Anthony Trollope
No doubt Fanny had often stood up for Mary with her stepmother, and now Mary herself had cut the ground from under her feet.
The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Volume I (of 2)|Florence A. Thomas Marshall

British Dictionary definitions for stepmother

stepmother

/ (ˈstɛpˌmʌðə) /

noun

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

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