home wrecker
A person who gains the affections of someone already married or engaged, and thus causes the dissolution of the marriage or engagement.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“People often call her a home wrecker for dating him.”
“He does not want to be known as a home wrecker.”
“She worries that people see her as a home wrecker.”
“The scandal grew when the public accused his new partner of being a home wrecker.”
“He felt terrible when his friends accused him of being a home wrecker after he started seeing a woman who was still technically married.”
“The movie tells a story about a home wrecker who tries to steal a husband away from his happy family.”
“The neighbors whispered about the home wrecker who moved into the house across the street after the divorce was finalized.”
“The tabloid press relentlessly painted her as a home wrecker, blaming her entirely for the collapse of the famous couple's long-standing marriage.”
From *home* + *wrecker*, a compound first recorded in the late 19th century. The term implies the destruction of a domestic unit, typically through the introduction of a third party into a marriage.
- 01
bring home
To earn (money).
- 02
bring home the bacon
To have employment which provides remuneration to satisfy the basic needs of oneself and one's family.
- 03
broken home
A home in which the parents have separated or divorced.
- 04
charity begins at home
One should help the people closest to oneself before thinking of helping others.
- 05
close to home
Affecting people close to, or within, one's family circle.
- 06
come home by weeping cross
To return in disappointment, or in a spirit of contrition.
- 07
come home to roost
To have negative consequences (of an action in the past).
- 08
eat someone out of house and home
To consume so much of someone's store of food that little or none is left for the owner.
Last updated August 10, 2026