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empty-nest syndrome

noun

  1. a depressed state felt by some parents after their children have left home.


empty-nest syndrome

noun

  1. informal.
    a condition, often involving depression, loneliness, etc, experienced by parents living in a home from which the children have grown up and left
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of empty-nest syndrome1

First recorded in 1970–75
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Example Sentences

Empty-nest syndrome is a syndrome for a reason.

The book, she said, was partly the result of empty-nest syndrome.

“It’s the empty-nest syndrome. People in their 50s, their kids have gone. People feel lonely, and a dog is an eternal baby, isn’t it?”

Some of the reborners have lost a child, while others were unable to bear children at all; still others found the crafting and collecting of these handmade infants a balm for empty-nest syndrome.

We’ve already been dealing with the empty-nest syndrome.

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empty nesterEmpty Quarter