widower

noun

wid·​ow·​er ˈwi-də-wər 

: a man who has lost his spouse or partner by death and usually has not remarried

Examples of widower in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That feeling was especially poignant for mission commander Reid Wiseman, a NASA astronaut and widower who, shortly before the NBC News interview, had spoken with his two teenage daughters—his first chance to speak with them since launch. —Lee Billings, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2026

Reid Wiseman Leading the nearly 10-day mission is a widower who considers solo parenting — not rocketing to the moon — his biggest and most rewarding challenge. —Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2026

Borders’ widower, Ben Oliver, and sister, Angela Borders, organized a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs. —Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 12 Mar. 2026

Anyway, in yet another attempt to curtail Social Security expenditures, Congress in 1981 decided that the death benefit should be paid only to a widow or widower who was living with the deceased at the time of death, or to any minor children. —Tom Margenau, Dallas Morning News, 1 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English widewer, alteration of wedow widow, widower, from Old English wuduwa widower; akin to Old English wuduwe widow

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing widower

• grass widower

Kids Definition

widower

noun

wid·​ow·​er ˈwid-ə-wər 

: a man whose spouse has died