husband-in-law
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.87 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Another husband of one's wife. Typically used in cases of divorce and subsequent remarriage.
Colloquial
Example Sentences
- "the collection of people who would gather in either of the two houses for Christmas and Thanksgiving, and sometimes again in summer. This collection involved former mothers-in-law, former husbands, ex-wives of former husbands, and doddering uncles from distant marriages, as well as, of course, the various and sundry children and dogs (dogs-in-law as one family member calls them) of the now recombined families. In the process, I believe, we were responsible for the creation of a new American family relative—the wife-in-law, or the husband-in-law."
- ""Your plan provides Browne with two charming wives and gives me but one. […]" "But, my lord," said Saunders, "doesn't the plan give Lady Deppingham two husbands? It's quite a fair division." "It would make Lord Deppingham my husband-in-law, I imagine," said Drusilla quaintly. "I've always had a horror of husbands-in-law." "And you would be my wife-in-law," supplemented Lady Agnes. "How interesting!""
Etymology
Word Breakdown
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.