Sister-in-law

//ˈsɪs.tɚ.ɪn.lɔ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A female relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:; The sister of one's spouse.

    "Though they are not twins, my sister-in-law resembles my wife in almost every way."

  2. 2
    the sister of your spouse wordnet
  3. 3
    A female relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:; The wife of one's sibling.

    "My sister-in-law and my brother met while they were both on vacation in Jamaica."

  4. 4
    Co-sister-in-law: The wife of one's sibling-in-law.; The wife of the sibling of one's spouse. uncommon
  5. 5
    Co-sister-in-law: The wife of one's sibling-in-law.; The sister of the spouse of one's sibling. uncommon

Synonyms

All synonyms
bahubhabhibrother's wife

Example

More examples

"My sister-in-law had four children in five years."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English suster-in-lawe; equivalent to sister + -in-law.

Related phrases

co-sister-in-lawhalf sister-in-law

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.