unwed

adjective

un·​wed ˌən-ˈwed 

1

: not married

an unwed mother

unwed couples

2

: of or relating to unmarried persons

an unwed pregnancy

Synonyms

• single
• unattached
• unmarried

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Maxwell said the final phase is perhaps the most ambitious with plans to build homes on land adjacent to the cross site for unwed mothers who don’t have the financial means or experience to care for a newborn baby. —Paul Gattis | [e-mail], al, 9 Apr. 2023

When Deanna’s birth mother was pregnant, her parents had sent her to the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers, in Norfolk, a hundred miles away. —Larissa Macfarquhar, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2023

These years have produced harsh assessments of the treatment endured by unwed mothers and their children in the Ireland of the past, as well as various proposals for what to do with the Tuam site — including one to just erect a memorial and be done with it. —Dan Barry, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2022

And there’s talk about young, unwed mothers. —Beth Thames | [e-mail], al, 29 June 2022

Researchers found that the number of unwed partners living together had more than doubled since 1993, going from 3% to 7%. —Kailyn Brownstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2023

The reader hears the perspective of Nella’s husband Alex, whose mother, like thousands of young unwed Australian mothers in the 1950s through the ‘90s, was forced to give him up for adoption. —Samantha Laine Perfas, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Jan. 2023

The work is historical fiction, based on the Magdalene laundries run by the Catholic church through the 20th century in Ireland, where unwed mothers and their children were put to work and abused. —The Editors, Outside Online, 10 Jan. 2023

Chinese authorities are also moving to drop restrictions on registering the births of children born to unmarried parents in a country where unwed mothers still face stigma. —Kathleen Magramo, CNN, 8 Feb. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1