nuclear family

[ noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, fam lee, nyoo- ]

noun

1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children. Compare extended family ( def 1 ), immediate family ( def ).

nuclear family

noun

1. sociol anthropol a primary social unit consisting of parents and their offspring Compare extended family

nuclear family

1. A type of family made up only of parents and their children. ( Compare extended family .)

Pronunciation Note

See nuclear ( def ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuclear family¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

He said he would sign an executive order upon taking office “instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age”; block federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care; ensure “severe consequences” for teachers who acknowledge transgender children; and push schools to “promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers, and celebrating rather than erasing the things that make men and women different and unique.”

From Los Angeles Times

And with this faith in America as a Christian nation-state often comes an embrace of values that have long been associated with American aspirations like the home-owning nuclear family and material prosperity as a sign of divine grace, without any serious appraisal of their problems.

From Salon

As Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist at the ACLU, put it, ADF “is using the state to uphold the heterosexual, patriarchal nuclear family as the primary—if not the only—way of living one’s life.”

From Slate

The California Family Council, a conservative Christian organization, opposed SB 729, saying that its LGBTQ+ inclusion threatens the nuclear family and that “human life begins at conception, and as bearers of God’s image, each embryo deserves to be safeguarded and honored with dignity.”

From Los Angeles Times

As is Project 2025’s demand that a two-person, male-led, heterosexual, cisgender nuclear family should be the American standard.

From Los Angeles Times