in-law
/ˈɪn.lɔː/US/ˈɪn.lɔ/
in-law noun: a relative by marriage (or through affinity).
Noun
in-law (plural in-laws)
- A relative by marriage (or through affinity).
- The house got a complete going-over before the arrival of the in-laws.
- Louie: 'Neither boiling nor baking can diminish this creature's overpowering musky scent. Only suitable for serving to unpleasant in-laws.'2004, Nintendo EAD, Pikmin 2, Nintendo, level/area: Piklopedia
- Synonyms:
- affine
- Sometimes specifically a parent-in-law of one's child, for which the dedicated terms co-mother-in-law, co-father-in-law are rare.
in-law meaning in Tamil, Tagalog and Malay
in-law in Tamil
- திருமண வழி உறவினர், மனைவி, கணவன் வழி உறவினர், கல்யாணச்சொந்தம், திருமணச்சொந்தம்
in-law in Tagalog
- relative by marriage
- manugang
in-law in Malay
- relative by marriage
- ipar
- parent-in-law of one's child
- besan
Synonyms of in-law
Forms of in-law
| plural | in-laws |
|---|---|
| alternative form | inlaw |
Origin of in-law
Back-formation from -in-law.
Words formed from in-law
Phrases with in-law
Questions about in-law
- What does in-law mean?
- In-law means a relative by marriage (or through affinity).
- What is in-law in Tamil?
- In-law in Tamil is திருமண வழி உறவினர், மனைவி, கணவன் வழி உறவினர். See In-law meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is in-law?
- In-law is a noun.
- How do you pronounce in-law?
- In-law is pronounced /ˈɪn.lɔː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of in-law?
- The plural of in-law is in-laws.
Words near in-law in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: in-law (page history and authors); in-law (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-in-law.wav.
Cite this entry: “in-law.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in-law. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.