widow

widow — noun

IPA/ˈwɪdəʊ/
KK[wˈɪdo]IPA/ˈwɪdəʊ/
  • widowsingular
  • widowsplural

1. A woman whose spouse has died and stays unmarried

1.nounB1
Definition

A woman whose spouse has died and stays unmarried

Example

Élise has been a widow for three years, ever since her husband died of cancer.

Lakshmi, a widow since 2019, sold her family home and moved in with her daughter.

pattern: [name], a widow since [year]

Common collocations
  • war widow
  • widow of [name]
  • widow's pension
  • widow since [event]
Synonyms
  • surviving spouse

    formal or legal term; used in documents and official contexts rather than daily conversation

Common Mistakes

My grandfather is a widow since grandmother died.
My grandfather is a widower since grandmother died.
'Widow' refers to a woman; a man who has lost his wife is a 'widower'.
She became a widow after her mother died.
She became a widow after her husband died.
A widow is someone who has lost their spouse, not a parent.

2. a humorous term for a lady whose partner regularly goes out for a hobby like gol

2.nounC1
Definition

a humorous term for a lady whose partner regularly goes out for a hobby like golf or football

Example

Rohan laughed and called himself a golf widow's husband, since she played every weekend.

common phrase: [hobby] widow

During the World Cup, millions of women jokingly become football widows for a month.

Common collocations
  • golf widow
  • football widow
  • fishing widow
  • sports widow
Synonyms

Usage Note

Humorous extension of sense 1. The activity or sport is placed directly before 'widow' (golf widow, football widow, fishing widow). The meaning is playful and does not imply anyone has actually died.

Common Mistakes

She is a golf widow because her husband died on the course.
She is a golf widow because her husband plays golf every weekend.
This use is humorous; it does not mean someone has actually died.

widow — verb

IPA/ˈwɪd.əʊ/
KK[wˈɪdo]IPA/ˈwɪd.oʊ/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Widow' refers specifically to a woman who has lost her husband or wife and has not remarried. 'Widower' is the male counterpart — a man whose wife has died. Both terms focus on marital status after a death. 'Bereaved' is broader: it describes anyone who has lost a loved one through death, not just a spouse. For instance, a parent who loses a child is 'bereaved' but not a 'widow' or 'widower'. 'Surviving spouse' is a formal, legal term used in documents, inheritances, and insurance policies. In everyday conversation, 'widow' and 'widower' come naturally: 'She became a widow at 35.' 'Surviving spouse' would sound stiff in that context — better saved for official forms.

widow ↗widower ↗bereaved ↗surviving spouse

Common collocations

Prepositions

  • widow of
  • widow to
  • widowed by
  • widowed at

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Widow' comes from Old English 'widuwe', which traces back to Proto-Germanic '*widuwōn' and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European '*h₁widʰéwh₂', meaning 'empty or separated'. The same root gave Latin 'vidua' and Sanskrit 'vidhávā'. The word has referred to a woman separated from her husband by death for over a thousand years. The verb form appeared around the 1400s, and the humorous extension (golf widow) dates from the early 1900s.