MEANING
A man whose spouse has died and who usually has not married again.
Use it for
identifying a man after his spouse’s death; describing a surviving husband; establishing a character’s bereaved marital status; distinguishing bereavement from divorce or separationIdentifies bereavement through the death of a spouse without assuming any particular emotional response. Writing functions: Mourning / Loss.
Words that belong together
- a recent widower
- an elderly widower
- a widower with young children
On the page
The widower still bought two tickets whenever the travelling theatre came to town.
A recent widower, he found the empty chair harder to face than the paperwork.
Word forms
- Base
- widower
Usage notes
Countable noun: a widower; plural widowers. Usually a man whose spouse has died and who has not remarried. Widowed is the usual gender-neutral adjective; use surviving spouse when gender is irrelevant. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.