unmarried
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.not having a husband or a wife.
adj.not currently in a state of matrimony. The term is non-gradable and typically functions as a formal descriptor of marital status.
Simple“The survey asked if he was married, unmarried, or widowed.”
In context“The legal document specified that the property would be inherited by his unmarried children in equal shares.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a person who does not have a husband or wife.
n.an individual who is not married. This nominal use is less common than the adjective and often appears in statistical or sociological contexts.
Simple“The tax laws for unmarrieds are different in this country.”
In context“The study compared the living arrangements of young unmarrieds across several European metropolitan areas.”
Synonymssingle person
From un- + married.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.