stepchild

noun

step·​child ˈstep-ˌchī(-ə)ld 

1

: a child of one's wife or husband by a former partner

2

: one that fails to receive proper care or attention

is no longer a stepchild in the family of nations

—F. R. Smith

Examples of stepchild in a Sentence

The school has long been the forgotten stepchild of the state university system.

Recent Examples on the Web

And far as legalities go, stepparents have few legal rights to see their stepchildren following a split. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Apr. 2025

Blended Families And Step-Relations: The law does not always recognize stepchildren as automatic heirs. —Ashley Case, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025

Even LinkedIn, a B2B stepchild of social media, has been encouraging its subscribers to create short-form video and seeing a spike in video (and AI) content. —David Doty, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024

Now, only blood relatives may adopt a child or stepchild from China. —Vivian Jones, The Tennessean, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for stepchild

• beguiled
• brainchild
• compiled
• defiled
• exiled
• grandchild
• profiled
• refiled
• reviled
• stockpiled
• domiciled
• reconciled

Kids Definition

stepchild

noun

step·​child ˈstep-ˌchīld 

: a child of one's wife or husband by a former partner