nuclear family

[ noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, famlee, nyoo- ]
See synonyms for nuclear family on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children.: Compare extended family (def. 1), immediate family.

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Origin of nuclear family

1
First recorded in 1945–50

pronunciation note For nuclear family

See nuclear.

Words Nearby nuclear family

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nuclear family in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nuclear family

nuclear family

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

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

Cultural definitions for nuclear family

nuclear family

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.