Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shotgun marriage

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.78 in modern English

Syllables: shot-gun -mar-riage
IPA

22

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

4

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A marriage beginning with (or resulting from) a shotgun wedding.

Countable

noun

A shotgun wedding itself.

Countable

noun

Such marriages, or such weddings, taken collectively.

Uncountable

noun

Used figuratively.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"It is essential for us to win back the rights of teenagers to prevent the state from using […] the denial of reproductive control to channel young women into shotgun marriages, into unwanted familial responsibilities and into dead end streets."
"Others explained that a forced marriage was likely to end in an early divorce, so that the child would suffer more in a shotgun marriage than if born out of wedlock."

Etymology

From shotgun + marriage; compare shotgun wedding.

Usage

Inflected Forms

shotgun marriages (plural)

Questions

What does shotgun marriage mean?: A marriage beginning with (or resulting from) a shotgun wedding.
Where does shotgun marriage come from?: From shotgun + marriage; compare shotgun wedding.

How to pronounce shotgun marriage

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