stepmother
Syllables: step·moth·er/ˈstɛpmʌðə/
stepmother noun: a person or thing likened to a stereotypical stepmother, having cold, cruel, or ungenerous qualities. Also the clipping of stepmother's blessing.
Noun
stepmother (plural stepmothers)
- A person or thing likened to a stereotypical stepmother, having cold, cruel, or ungenerous qualities.
- Synonyms:
- bonus mother
- An animal, typically a bird, who raises the offspring of another animal.
- Synonyms:
- bonus mother
- Synonym of co-mother (“the non-birth mother of a child in a lesbian couple”).
- Synonyms:
- co-mother
- A viola, especially Viola tricolor, heartsease.
- The second came up about ten days later in the lee of the channel marker, and it was called stepmother, or love-in-idelness.1974, Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal, The Summer Book, Sort Of Books, published 2003, page 115
Also used as
stepmother is also the clipping of stepmother's blessing.
stepmother meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
stepmother in Hindi
- wife of one's biological father, not one's biological mother
- विमाता vimātā, सौतेली माँ sautelī mā̃
stepmother in Tamil
- wife of one's biological father, not one's biological mother
- மாற்றாந்தாய் māṟṟāntāy, மறுதாய் maṟutāy, வேற்றுத்தாய் vēṟṟuttāy
stepmother in Marathi
- सावत्र आई, सावत्र माता
stepmother in Urdu
- سوتیلی ماں, سوتیلا ماں, سوتیلی ماما
More languagesFewer languages
- stepmother in Bengali
- সৎমা
- stepmother in Telugu
- సవతి తల్లి savati talli, మారుటి తల్లి māruṭi talli
- stepmother in Kannada
- ಮಲತಾಯಿ, ಸವತಿ ತಾಯಿ
- stepmother in Punjabi
- ਮਤਰੇਈ ਮਾਂ, ਸੌਤੇਲੀ ਮਾਂ, ਮਤਰੇਈ ਮੰਮੀ
- stepmother in Gujarati
- અપરમાતા aparmātā, ઓરમાન મા oramān mā, સાવકી મા sāvkī mā
- stepmother in Odia
- ସାବତ ମାଆ, ସାବତ ମା
- stepmother in Nepali
- सौतेनी आमा
- stepmother in Tagalog
- inang-panguman, madrasta
- stepmother in Arabic
- زَوْجَةُ الْأَب zawjatu l-ʔab, رَابَّة rābba
- stepmother in Indonesian
- ibu tiri
- stepmother in Persian
- نامادری nâmâdari, مادندر mâdandar
- stepmother in Vietnamese
- mẹ ghẻ, mẹ kế
- stepmother in Myanmar
- မိထွေး mi.htwe:
- Kashmiri
- وورٕ موج vōrụ mōj, وورٕ مٲج vōrụ mạ̄j
Examples of stepmother in a sentence
- I had to stay with my wicked stepmother, for I had nowhere else to go.
- There was bound to be friction between a firstborn and his strong-willed stepmother.
- “My toadly stepmother.” “You brought your wicked stepmother to your wedding?” asked Cara in astonishment.
Synonyms of stepmother
3 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of stepmother
| plural | stepmothers |
|---|---|
| alternative form | step-mother |
Origin of stepmother
From Middle English stepmoder, from Old English stēopmōdor, from Proto-Germanic *steupamōdēr (“stepmother”), corresponding to step- + mother. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stäifmuur (“stepmother”), Dutch stiefmoeder (“stepmother”), German Low German Steevmoder (“stepmother”), German Stiefmutter (“stepmother”), Danish stedmor (“stepmother”), Swedish styvmor (“stepmother”), Icelandic stjúpmóðir (“stepmother”). Compare also West Frisian styfmem (“stepmother”).
Words formed from stepmother
Questions about stepmother
- What does stepmother mean?
- Stepmother means a person or thing likened to a stereotypical stepmother, having cold, cruel, or ungenerous qualities.
- What is stepmother in Hindi?
- Stepmother in Hindi is विमाता (vimātā), सौतेली माँ (sautelī mā̃). See Stepmother meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is stepmother?
- Stepmother is a noun.
- How do you pronounce stepmother?
- Stepmother is pronounced /ˈstɛpmʌðə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of stepmother?
- The plural of stepmother is stepmothers.
Words near stepmother in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stepmother (page history and authors); stepmother (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stepmother (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-stepmother.wav.
Cite this entry: “stepmother.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stepmother. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.