Widow

/ˈwɪd.əʊ/ noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A person whose spouse is absent:; A person who has lost a spouse and not remarried:; A woman whose spouse (traditionally husband) has died (and who has not remarried); a woman in relation to her late spouse; feminine of widower.
  • Grammar: widow is listed as noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: bereave, bereaved wife, dowager, dowager.
  • Useful contrasts: married status, married woman, orphans.
  • Usage evidence: The widow had to get through a lot of hardships.

How to use "widow"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "widow" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "widow" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "widow" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "widow" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "widow" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "bereave" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "widow", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person whose spouse is absent:; A person who has lost a spouse and not remarried:; A woman whose spouse (traditionally husband) has died (and who has not remarried); a woman in relation to her late spouse; feminine of widower.
  2. 2
    a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried wordnet
  3. 3
    A person whose spouse is absent:; A person who has lost a spouse and not remarried:; Any person whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried). uncommon

    "Now that he is a widow, he tries to win Olivia back through the songs and the music that brought them together all those years ago, leaving Olivia torn between moving forward with Josh or falling into the arms of the man she truly loves."

  4. 4
    A person whose spouse is absent:; A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a hobby, career, etc. broadly, humorous, in-compounds, informal, often, sarcastic

    "My aunt is a football widow in the fall and a basketball widow in the winter and early spring."

  5. 5
    An additional hand of playing cards dealt face-down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A single line of type that ends a paragraph but is separated from it by being carried over to the next page or column.
  2. 7
    Any venomous spider of the genus Latrodectus (called "widows" because of the practice of sexual cannibalism observed among many of these species).
Verb
  1. 1
    To make a widow or widower of someone; to cause the death of the spouse of. transitive
  2. 2
    cause to be without a spouse wordnet
  3. 3
    To strip of anything valued. figuratively, transitive

    "Sleep, gentle winds, as he sleeps now, My friend, the brother of my love. My Arthur! whom I shall not see ⁠Till all my widow’d race be run; ⁠Dear as the mother to the son, More than my brothers are to me."

  4. 4
    To endow with a widow's right. obsolete, transitive
  5. 5
    To be widow to. obsolete, transitive

Antonyms

married statusmarried womanorphanssave

Example

"The widow had to get through a lot of hardships."

Common questions

What does "widow" mean?

A person whose spouse is absent:; A person who has lost a spouse and not remarried:; A woman whose spouse (traditionally husband) has died (and who has not remarried); a woman in relation to her late spouse; feminine of widower.

What is a synonym for "widow"?

Common synonyms include: bereave, bereaved wife, dowager, dowager, dowagers, heir.

How do you use "widow" in a sentence?

The widow had to get through a lot of hardships.

How do you pronounce "widow"?

Pronounced /ˈwɪd.əʊ/.

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English widwe, from Old English widuwe, from Proto-West Germanic *widuwā, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂, possibly from *h₁weydʰh₁-, *widʰ- (“to separate, split, cleave, divide”), whence also wood from Old English widu, wudu. Cognates Cognates include Cimbrian bittaba (“widow”), Dutch weduwe, weeuw (“widow”), German Witwe (“widow”), Vilamovian wytwa (“widow”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (widuwō, “widow”); also Old Irish fedb (“widow”), Welsh gweddw (“widow”), Latin vidua (“widow”), Ancient Greek ἠΐθεος (ēḯtheos, “bachelor”), Albanian ve (“widow, widower”), Belarusian удава́ (udavá, “widow”), Czech, Slovak, and Slovene vdova (“widow”), Polish gdowa, wdowa (“widow”), Russian and Ukrainian вдова́ (vdová, “widow”), Serbo-Croatian udova, у̀дова (“widow”), Central Kurdish بێوە (bêwe, “widow”), Ossetian идӕдз (idæʒ, “widowed”), Persian بیوه (bive, bêva, “widow”), Sanskrit विधवा (vidhavā, “widow”).

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