widowed

American  

[wid-ohd] / ˈwɪd oʊd /

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

Etymology

Origin of widowed

widow ( def. ) + -ed ³ ( def. )

Explanation

If you know someone whose husband or wife has died, you can describe that person as widowed. The widowed lady next door may have lost her husband many years ago. A man whose spouse has died is typically called a widower, while a woman is a widow. Both men and women can be described with the adjective widowed if their partners are no longer alive. These words come from a root that's shared by the Sanskrit vidhuh, which means "lonely or solitary," and the Latin viduus, "bereft or void."

Example Sentences

Widowed at a young age, with two children, Bishop pursued her master’s, and taught office administration skills at City University of New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 4, 2025

If it happened before April 2017 the payments were known as Widowed Parent's Allowance.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2024

Widowed, she said ElliQ’s companionship made her change her mind about moving to an assisted living facility and she uses it as an icebreaker when she meets someone new to town.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 1, 2024

Widowed in 2015 and retired from her human resources job in January, Ms. Edwards, 65, lives in Tuckerton, N.J., and has been a Passionflix subscriber since 2018.

From New York Times • Jun. 2, 2022

Widowed twice, he was rumored to be involved with a much younger woman.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• only
• unattended