extended family

noun

: a family that includes in one household near relatives (such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles) in addition to a nuclear family

Given space, there are ways in which even larger populations than the extended family can be accommodated under one roof.

—Paul Oliver

also : an extensive group of people who are related by blood or marriage or who otherwise regard themselves as a large family

Four out of every five people who go through a first divorce remarry … . Thus it is that husbands and wives, their former partners, children and stepchildren, and a whole constellation of grandparents and other relatives are brought together in the new American extended family.

—Michael Norman

During his five years at Owen High, he turned his teams into an extended family and tried to instill in his players the same sense of self-worth that Baldwin had imparted to him years before.

—William Nack

Synonyms

• home
• house
• household
• ménage

Examples of extended family in a Sentence

their extended family includes a grandmother and widowed aunt

Recent Examples on the Web

There was an active social life, an extended family of people dropping in and out of each other’s homes. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 18 May 2025

Lowell ended up moving to Flushing, Queens to live with her extended family. —Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 14 May 2025

Wearing shirts emblazoned with his name, Alexander's extended family gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the release. —Arkansas Online, 13 May 2025

My kids, or some extended family member, who is choosing to say something inappropriate? —Margaux Anbouba, Vogue, 11 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1935, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for extended family

• multifamily
• nonfamily
• stepfamily
• subfamily

Kids Definition

extended family

noun

: a family that includes parents and children and other relatives (as grandparents, aunts, or uncles) in the same household

Medical Definition

extended family

noun

: a family that includes in one household near relatives in addition to a nuclear family