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Glite Dictionary
stepmother

stepmother

82 1.8
A woman married to your father who is not your birth mother
  • noun
  • /ˈstɛpˌmʌðər/
translation icon : madrastra
  • There were those who knew about Nadra's disappearance: her father, her stepmother, her husband, and her mother-in-law.
  • father and stepmother
  • wicked stepmother
  • mother and stepmother

OK, She had a stepmother who was horrific.

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Examples

  • Jenny, you now have a new stepmother who is 2 years older than you.

    Deep Impact (1998)

  • So, I do salute my stepmother's impressive skills in livening up my father's drab landscape.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • And her evil stepmother forces her to clean it.

  • It's nice to hear a stepmother talk like that.

    Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

  • Well, tonight, my stepmother is teaching a night class.

    Julie Darling (1983)

  • I tried to make friends with my stepmother, but finally I left the city to make my own life.

    Academic text (2003)

  • You don't like your stepmother, do you?

    Double Indemnity (1944)

  • Her father and stepmother had two sons who are now in their mid-twenties.

    Academic text (2000)

  • She is not my mother, she's my stepmother.

    Erzulie (2022)

  • My stepmother always gives me helpful advice about school.

Synonyms

stepparent
vsstepmother
5 3.1

A person married to your parent who is not your birth parent

is the female-specific word for someone married to the father not the biological mother

Surface Forms

stepmother singular
stepmothers plural

Morphology

stepmother = step + mother (transparent) = step + mother

The meaning is directly composed from 'step' (indicating a non-biological, marital relationship) + 'mother', so learners who know the parts can infer the sense.

Etymology

Stepmother comes from an old word step- that once meant 'bereaved' or 'orphan'. It originally named the woman who cared for a child after the child's real mother was gone, and today step- simply shows a family tie by marriage, so a stepmother is a woman married to your father but not your birth mother.