spinster

American  

[spin-ster] / ˈspɪn stər /

noun

1. Disparaging and Offensive. a woman still unmarried beyond the usual age of marrying.

2. Chiefly Law. a woman who has never married.

3. a woman whose occupation is spinning.

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spinster British  

/ ˈspɪnstə /

noun

1. an unmarried woman regarded as being beyond the age of marriage

2. law (in legal documents) a woman who has never married Compare feme sole

3. (formerly) a woman who spins thread for her living

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Sensitive Note

The meaning “a woman beyond the usual marriageable age” is used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. It implies negative qualities such as being fussy or undesirable. See also old maid.

Other Word Forms

• spinsterhood noun
• spinsterish adjective
• spinsterishly adverb
• spinsterlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of spinster

1325–75; Middle English spinnestere a woman who spins. See spin, -ster

Example Sentences

How could we have guessed as we sat there—two middle-aged spinsters and an old man— that in place of memories were about to be given adventures such as we had never dreamed of?

From Literature

But she said she was nothing but a nervous spinster, and she didn’t think marriage would calm her.

From Literature

Regarded in her time as "a reclusive spinster that never left her house", she was determined to be free to pursue a life of artistic expression.

From BBC

“I’m a geriatric pregnant spinster who puts crystals in her bra,” Helen says in an unusual moment of self-awareness.

From The Wall Street Journal

I was also forty years old—practically a spinster by that era’s standards.

From Literature