widower

noun

wid·​ow·​er ˈwi-də-wər How to pronounce widower (audio)
Synonyms of widowernext
: a man who has lost his spouse or partner by death and usually has not remarried

Examples of widower in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That changed the trajectory for Soulm8te, a spinoff set in the M3GAN universe starring Lily Sullivan as Sara, an AI-powered companion for a grieving widower, David, played by David Rysdahl. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026 Written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Transformers One, Ant-Man and the Wasp), Pathetic Fallacy follows a young widower to a new-age mountain town in search of cosmic answers and a chance to heal. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Aug. 2026 Founded in 1991, the IDF Widows & Orphans Organization supports more than 18,000 widows, widowers and orphans through assistance programs, rehabilitation, advocacy and legislative efforts. — Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026 While that might be good counsel for many widows and widowers, not everyone has to deal with a dog like HamBo. — Marni Jameson, Arkansas Online, 24 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for widower

Word History

Etymology

Middle English widewer, alteration of wedow widow, widower, from Old English wuduwa widower; akin to Old English wuduwe widow

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of widower was in the 14th century

Phrases Containing widower

Browse Nearby Words

widow duck
widower
widowered
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Widower.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widower. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

widower

noun
wid·​ow·​er ˈwid-ə-wər How to pronounce widower (audio)
: a man whose spouse has died

More from Merriam-Webster on widower

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for widower

Nglish: Translation of widower for Spanish Speakers

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