as in unmarried
not married
most of the employees at that small company are unwed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of unwed
He was born to an unwed teenage mom in Greenville, South Carolina, during the Jim Crow era but rose to become a civil rights icon and a groundbreaking politician who mounted two electrifying runs for the presidency in the 1980s.
—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
People were hard on unwed mothers back then, and my parents wanted to give Louise, his mom, a second chance.
—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Larry was born in New York City in 1944 to an unwed teenage mother, who gave him up for adoption at 9 months old.
—
Reeves Wiedeman,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
There, the Catholic Church once ran homes for unwed mothers.
—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwed
John Blake,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
People were hard on unwed mothers back then, and my parents wanted to give Louise, his mom, a second chance.
—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Larry was born in New York City in 1944 to an unwed teenage mother, who gave him up for adoption at 9 months old.
—
Reeves Wiedeman,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
There, the Catholic Church once ran homes for unwed mothers.
—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwed
unmarried
Adjective
-
To claim Head of Household (HOH), the taxpayer generally must be unmarried (single, legally separated, divorced, or widowed) or be considered unmarried, pay more than half the cost of maintaining the home, and have a qualifying person.
-
While church policies emphasized that unmarried women had the right to keep their children and the children had a right to remain with their mothers, staff often ignored this guidance and worked closely with adoption agencies, researchers found.
Cite this Entry
“Unwed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwed. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
