# home wrecker

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/home-wrecker
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A person who gains the affections of someone already married or engaged, and thus causes the dissolution of the marriage or engagement.

## Examples

- 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.

## Origin

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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.