widower

American  

[wid-oh-er] / ˈwɪd oʊ ər /

noun

1. a man who has lost his spouse by death and has not remarried.

---

widower British  

/ ˈwɪdəʊə /

noun

1. a man whose wife has died and who has not remarried

---

Other Word Forms

• widowered
  adjective
• widowerhood
  noun

Etymology

Origin of widower

1325–75; late Middle English ( see widow, -er ¹); replacing widow (now dial.), Old English wydewa

Explanation

If your grandmother has died, you can call your grandfather a widower, or a man whose wife is no longer living. When a man loses his wife, he becomes a widower. The equivalent name for a woman whose husband dies is a widow. In many cases, a man is only referred to as a widower if he has not remarried. Both a widow and a widower are described as being widowed. The feminine form of this word came first, from the Old English widewe. The Indo-European root means "be empty," which perfectly describes the grief that many recent widowers feel.

Example Sentences

In November, a Chicago jury awarded $28.45 million to the widower of Shikha Garg of New Delhi, who died in the Ethiopian crash.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

He’s also a widower who lost his wife not to some boring disease but in a way that only a real spitfire would go, by flipping her ATV.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

The movie — which he wrote, directed and stars in — follows a widower as he scatters his wife’s ashes in very specific locations and deals with the memories that arise at each of them.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

Martin first appeared on the BBC soap's fictional Albert Square in 2000 as widower Slater, along with his four daughters Lynne, Kat, Little Mo and Zoe.

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2026

“Your uncle also became a widower when he was young. That is why we are like two children living in the house with our mother and father.”

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar