breadwinner

noun

bread·​win·​ner ˈbred-ˌwi-nər 

plural breadwinners

1

: a member of a family whose wages supply the family's principal or only means of support

the main/primary/sole breadwinner in the family

… many more households have two breadwinners, making it unlikely that there will be someone home all afternoon to cook.

—Mark Bittman

2

: a means (such as a tool, craft, or activity) of livelihood : a way of earning income

Crop diversity kept the overall value of Montana agriculture strong even as wheat, the state agriculture's breadwinner, faltered.

—Tom Lutey

Catfish farming has become the breadwinner industry for many families in west Alabama …

—Robert Dewitt and Benita D. Newton

breadwinning

ˈbred-ˌwi-niŋ 

noun

Examples of breadwinner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some 25 women in the co-op are the sole breadwinners for their families. —Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr. 2024

The father was the breadwinner of the family 90% of the time on TV shows, another example of how the families didn't reflect real-life statistics. —Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024

The results highlight a lack of diversity: Moms are largely depicted as white, young, thin and rarely as the breadwinner of their families. —Ellie Austin, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024

Sunar said her husband, the sole breadwinner in the house, who used to work making silver jewelry and utensils, had joined the Russian army solely for money – to build a better life for the family. —Sugam Pokharel, CNN, 11 Feb. 2024

Still, her research shows that educational progress among women has done little to change who the breadwinner is in the family. —Karishma Mehrotra, Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2023

For years before the story broke, Stormy had been the breadwinner. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2024

One man is accepting his wife’s new role as the breadwinner with open arms. —Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 17 Mar. 2024

That’s true not only when women are the lower earners in a relationship due to the pay gap, but even for female breadwinners. —Chloe Berger, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1614, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

breadwinner

noun

bread·​win·​ner ˈbred-ˌwin-ər 

: a person whose wages provide support for his or her family