Idiom
shotgun wedding
Meaning
A wedding in which the bride is already pregnant.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Her parents insisted on a shotgun wedding.”
“When they found out she was pregnant, the families arranged a shotgun wedding within a month.”
“The novel opens with a tense shotgun wedding in a dusty chapel, the bride visibly pregnant and the groom's face set with grim resignation.”
Examples
simple
“Her parents insisted on a shotgun wedding.”
contextual
“When they found out she was pregnant, the families arranged a shotgun wedding within a month.”
complex
“The novel opens with a tense shotgun wedding in a dusty chapel, the bride visibly pregnant and the groom's face set with grim resignation.”
Origin
From the late 19th century, referring to a marriage ceremony conducted under duress. The term rests upon the implication that the groom was forced to the altar by the bride's relatives, who reportedly found a shotgun to be an effective tool for securing his attendance.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated