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Glite Dictionary
groom-to-be

groom-to-be

2 3.0
A man who will soon get married
  • noun
  • /ɡruːm tə biː/
translation icon : novio
  • I'm not the bride, but I'm the groom-to-be

Examples

  • That wedding day is sure to be full of laughs, as the groom-to-be is constantly tossing out his sense of humor to the delight of all!

    Blog text (11)

  • The father is deceased, but the eldest son, the groom-to-be, Ramesh, has a high-ranking job with Indian Railways.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • - Everyone except the groom-to-be is in on the joke.

    Vulgar (2002)

  • And what of my groom-to-be?

    Shrek (2001)

  • And what about the bride and groom-to-be?

    The Wedding Planner (2001)

  • He is certainly not your average groom-to-be, not your usual guy.

    The Stag (2013)

  • Naturally, the first thing out of Summer's mouth is a wisecrack, which is met with withering glares from the bride and groom-to-be.

    Blog text (3)

  • The lucky groom-to-be... ...is former NFL quarterback and aging playboy Mike Gambril... ...who is a sportscaster for NBC in Los Angeles.

    Love Affair (1994)

  • Everyone except the groom-to-be is in on the joke.

  • I broke it off with my groom-to-be.

Synonyms

betrothed
vsgroom-to-be
  • Archaic
7 7.8

A person you are engaged to marry

specifies that the engaged person is male rather than any gender
fiance
vsgroom-to-be
1 3.0

A man who is engaged to be married

is the same male engaged status described in the key concept

Surface Forms

groom-to-be singular
groom-to-bes plural

Morphology

groom-to-be = groom (transparent) = groom + to-be

Meaning is directly predictable from 'groom' combined with the postnominal modifier 'to-be' ('about to be married').

Etymology

The word groom-to-be joins groom, as in bridegroom meaning a man getting married, and to-be, which means 'about to be'. So it means a man who is about to get married.