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ex-wife

ex-wife

1 2.5
A woman who used to be married to someone
  • noun
  • /ɛks waɪf/
translation icon : exesposa
  • During the wedding, my ex-wife was seated at a separate table with friends.

I mean, you know, Joel, his ex-wife Midge is living out his dream.

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Examples

  • My ex-wife and I have remained good friends after our divorce.

  • You know, his ex-wife is now out here dating Pete.

  • So I was with my ex-wife and our young kids.

  • So how does your ex-wife feel about the book?

  • There was an older guy with like an ex-wife or two and several kids in private school.

  • So you say you're not over your ex-wife at this point?

  • Yeah, three months after my transfer my ex-wife said, well, you know, I can't do this anymore.

  • By that point, Karen Zucker's ex-wife had become a close friend.

  • Finally, Sam's encounter with his manic-depressive ex-wife offers valuable visual clues about the fate of the archetypal Texan in the modern world.

    Academic text (1998)
  • He often talks about how much he misses his ex-wife and their time together.

Synonyms

ex
vsex-wife
351 4.1

A person who used to be your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife

is specifically a former married female partner not any romantic partner
ex-spouse
vsex-wife
1 3.4

A person who used to be your husband or wife

is a former married female partner rather than any gender

Surface Forms

ex-wife singular
ex-wives plural

Morphology

ex-wife = wife (transparent) = ex + wife

The prefix 'ex-' straightforwardly means 'former', so 'ex-wife' is directly understandable as a former wife.

Etymology

Ex-wife uses the prefix ex- meaning 'former' and the word wife, so it means a woman who was once your wife. A helpful way to remember it is to think of ex- like in exit or ex-husband, someone who is 'out of' the marriage rather than a current spouse.