stepsister
Americannoun
-
stepsisters
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stepsister
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at step-, sister
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:
Dealing with my mother and my stepsister is exhausting and causes me a lot of anxiety.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026
Hahn: It’s interesting, Mark, because I’ve always felt kind of like basically just invited to the party, so I always have felt like the messy stepsister on the outside looking in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
I didn’t choose “Cinderella,” or the stepsister, the story of “Cinderella” through the stepsister chose me.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Baena's surviving family includes his mother Barbara Stern and stepfather Roger Stern; father Scott and stepmother Michele Baena; brother Brad Baena; stepsister Bianca Gabay and stepbrother Jed Fluxman.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2025
Every night, Ash helped Ana dress for a different banquet or ball, and when her stepsister finally departed, she had to prepare the next night’s gown.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
They were stepsisters who hadn’t seen each other since they were little girls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Despite the family's efforts to protect them, her younger stepsisters found out that their father and mother were trapped under the rubble from other children at school.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2025
Men occasionally dance female roles in classical ballet, but only for humorous effect, like the stepsisters in Frederick Ashton’s “Cinderella.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
Survivors include a son from his first marriage, William Jr.; two stepbrothers; two stepsisters; and three grandchildren.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2022
“They are going to be your stepsisters, your hermanitas, and we're all going to live here together, so please, try to be nice.”
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
