widowed

[wid-ohd]

adjective

1. having lost one’s spouse to death.

   The author has created a believably deluded narrator, a popular high school senior who plays football and lives with his widowed father.

noun

1. Usually the widowed a person or persons who have lost a spouse to death.

   How do we offer strength and support to the aging, the widowed, the displaced, and others whose lives have been disrupted?

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of widow.

Other Word Forms

• unwidowed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of widowed¹

widow ( def. ) + -ed ³ ( def. )

Example Sentences

A father who was left widowed with seven young children has said sharing his story of "brokenness and grief" after losing his wife is helping others.

From BBC

Reid is widowed and despite a distinguished career as an astronaut, he considers his time as an only parent as his "greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase" of his life.

From BBC

She too is ready to be released, but her husband will not take her back, and her widowed mother cannot support her either.

From BBC

Twice divorced and twice widowed, Naidorf was married four times, and overcame cancer twice.

From Los Angeles Times

He explained that Ms Whyte's widowed mother Mary is a Eucharist minister in his parish and a "very devout woman" who visits Barefield's church almost every day.

From BBC

Related Words

• only 
• unattended