better half
14
3.3
- noun
- /ˈbɛtər hæf/
- Informal
:
media naranja
- During the wedding toast, he referred to his wife as his better half and best friend.
- my better half
My other half, my better half, the person who completes me.
- My other half, my better half, the person who completes me.
- Ethan Klein joined with my beautiful wife, my better half.
- Because your other half will either will either your other half will be your better half or make you half of what you could be.
Examples
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Proud to say this looks like the spitting image of my better half relaxing in Nantucket.
Blog text (1) -
Joan truly is my better half.
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I just got used to having my better half around.
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You wanna say "hello" to my better half?
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Kate, you are truly my better half, my very best friend.
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On the other hand, my folks got to meet my better half, and vice versa, and that went well.
Blog text (7) -
I turned to the Better Half and said, "So, I think I'll change my Facebook relationship status to 'engaged.'"
Blog text (31) -
My better half is a registered Republican but voted straight Democrat.
Blog text (32) -
So that's my better half, Pete.
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We got my man Chicklet and his better half, Mileni.
Synonyms
878
1.1
A husband, wife, or long-term companion in a romantic relationship
272
1.0
A person who is married to someone
194
1.2
A person who is your partner in a close romantic relationship
22
1.0
A person who has a husband or wife
11
3.0
The person you love and share your life with
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a person's spouse' is not strictly literal from 'better' (more good) + 'half' (one of two equal parts), so a learner who only knows the words would not automatically derive ‘spouse’. However, the metaphorical idea of someone being the 'better part/half' of you and similar constructions in other languages (e.g., Spanish media naranja) give a motivated link that makes the meaning partially inferable with context.
Etymology
Better half may come from an old idea that two people in marriage are two parts of one whole, and one part was jokingly called the better half. So people began calling their partner their better half as a warm, funny way to mean 'the better part of me' or simply 'my spouse'.