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• divorce
  divorce

  noun

  the act of legally ending a marriage.
• divorcé
  divorcé

  noun

  a divorced man.

divorce

¹ American  

[dih-vawrs] / dɪˈvɔrs /

noun

• divorces
  plural

1. the act of legally ending a marriage.

   After the divorce, they shared custody of the children.

2. any formal separation of spouses according to established custom.

3. the act of legally ending a formal contract before its term is up, especially in professional sports.

   If there’s a personality clash between the player and the manager, divorce may be the only way out.

   It’s a guide to corporate divorce, laying out who pays what to whom at the early termination of a contract.

4. a total separation between two things; disunion.

   Activists denounced the divorce between thought and action when it came to protecting human rights.

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verb (used with object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end the marriage contract between oneself and (one's spouse).

   She divorced her husband.

2. to permanently separate (a couple) through a judicial declaration that ends their marriage contract.

   The judge divorced the couple.

3. to separate or cut off.

   His view of the situation has become totally divorced from reality.

   Synonyms:

   disjoin, detach, sever, disconnect, divide, dissociate, rupture, disjunction, dissolution, breakup, annulment

verb (used without object)

divorced, divorcing

1. to legally end one’s marriage.

   After 16 years together, they divorced.

   I never thought about money till I divorced.

divorcé ² American  

[dih-vawr-sey, -vohr-, -vawr-sey, -vohr-] / dɪ vɔrˈseɪ, -voʊr-, -ˈvɔr seɪ, -ˈvoʊr- /

noun

1. a divorced man.

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divorce ¹ British  

/ dɪˈvɔːs /

noun

1. the dissolution of a marriage by judgment of a court or by accepted custom

2. a judicial decree declaring a marriage to be dissolved

3. a separation, esp one that is total or complete

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verb

1. to separate or be separated by divorce; give or obtain a divorce (to a couple or from one's spouse)

2. (tr) to remove or separate, esp completely

divorcé ² British  

/ dɪˈvɔːseɪ /

noun

1. a man who has been divorced

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Gender

See fiancée.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• divorcer
  noun
• divorceable
  adjective
• divorcive
  adjective
• nondivorced
  adjective
• undivorceable
  adjective
• undivorced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• divorces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divorce¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin dīvortium “separation,” from dīvort(ere) variant of dīvertere “to turn away” ( see divert) + -ium -ium

Origin of divorcé²

First recorded in 1805–15; from French, noun use of masculine past participle of divorcer, from Medieval Latin dīvortiāre “to divorce,” derivative of Latin dīvortium “separation”; see divorce

Explanation

A divorce is a formal ending of a marriage. It’s more permanent than a separation and involves a legal process. If you get a divorce, that means the marriage is officially over. Divorce has both a noun and a verb form. The noun describes the thing you get — "you are getting a divorce." And the verb describes the thing you do — "you are divorcing your spouse." Divorce can also be used more broadly to describe any major separation. You might know of a politician who divorces himself from a controversial issue — that means he doesn’t want to be associated with it at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divorce divorcé divorces divorced divorcing

Now, Carney was accelerating Canada’s pivot to Europe, matchmaking a shotgun marriage to offset the pain of its divorce with America.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

After a divorce: Divorce is the most obvious trigger — but as Kleinfeldt’s case shows, wanting to update your beneficiary designations isn’t enough.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

The court said "both sides bore equal responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage" and therefore granted the divorce but rejected Lee's claim for damages, she added.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

It led to divorce and birthed the series, which aimed to give a glimpse of Utah’s Mormon mom influencers navigating the hyper-conservative religious expectations they live by or grew up in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

I would like to let the record show that Ali and Shohreh probably had the most amicable divorce in the history of divorces.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

The acclaimed “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” adapted by Taffy Brodesser-Akner from her bestselling 2019 novel, is ostensibly about this Manhattan divorcé and struggling single father, played by Jesse Eisenberg.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

The 66-year-old divorcé had just started seeing someone.

From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023

This German comedy about a divorcé who goes to extreme lengths to spend time with his daughter earned glowing reviews, despite running for a posterior-numbing two hours and 42 minutes.

From BBC ● May 22, 2016

And thus began my new life as a divorcé.

From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2013

He was neither bachelor, husband, nor widower; he was not even a divorcé.

From We Can't Have Everything by Rupert Hughes

“The battle over embryos is becoming a big problem in divorces now.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

After two humiliating divorces, Opal has made the salvation of her oafish children her primary concern.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

I think a lot of us feel like we grew up with Hilary, so all of her music resonated with us then, and now, now that we’re older, through relationships or divorces or motherhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Both stars finalised divorces from their former partners during their time together.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

There had been several divorces among them, including Yolanda's.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Stewart was also divorced by the time her empire was at its peak — and people also criticized her, for different reasons.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

“After a marriage for this period of time, differentiating between marital and non-marital assets became excessively challenging,” when they got divorced, he says.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Hammond and ex-wife Mindy divorced following 23 years of marriage.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Craig, who is divorced and doesn’t have kids, moved in when she was 66.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

People always assumed my mom and dad were like other divorced parents, who fought over everything, but they were actually friends.

From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez

Tom Segura is finally addressing the news that he and Christina Pazsitzky are divorcing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

May 2021: Bill and Melinda French Gates announce they are divorcing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Bill Eddy, a longtime conflict resolution specialist, also describes relationship dynamics between siblings that can be similar to a divorcing couple trying to make it work for the kids.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

But divorcing a film like this from the times in which we’re absorbing it is short of impossible, no matter how much of an escape it provides for 109 minutes.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

In 1980, four years after divorcing Cheetah, Deborah took her car to a mechanic named James Pullum, who also worked at a local steel mill.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• annulment
• breakup
• dissolution
• separation
• split