mail-order bride

[ meyl-awr-der brahyd ]

noun

1. a woman who solicits or accepts a contractual marriage arranged by an agency or brokerage after a period of long-distance courtship, traditionally by written correspondence.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mail-order bride¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

I leafed through headshots with a Russian mail-order bride while my parents drank tea with her mother.

From Los Angeles Times

I leafed through headshots with a Russian mail-order bride while my parents drank tea with her mother.

From Los Angeles Times

Poor Hank, inevitably stood up by his mail-order bride.

From New York Times

He joked that Miss Dynasty is "a mail-order bride from China".

From BBC

“She outlived all these kings and she was supposed to be just a mail-order bride. She ended up ruling over everybody.”

From Seattle Times