Definition & pronunciation
get hitched /ɡet hɪtʃt/ — informal idiom meaning to get married. Tone: casual, friendly, sometimes rustic or jokey.
Easy explanation
“Get hitched” is a fun way to say two people are going to be husband and wife, spouses, or partners in a marriage. Think “tie the knot,” just more colloquial.
Grammatical formation
- Pattern: subject + get + hitched (to + person)
- “They got hitched last winter.”
- “Ava is getting hitched to Leo.”
- Tenses: get hitched / got hitched / getting hitched / have gotten hitched (US).
- Adjectival use: be hitched = be married. “They’ve been hitched for ten years.”
- Register: conversational; avoid in formal documents (use marry or wed).
Meanings & nuances
- Primary sense: enter into a legal or religious marriage.
- Connotation: breezy, celebratory, sometimes folksy; can hint at spontaneity (“got hitched in Vegas”).
- Not about dating or engagement (that’s get engaged).
With prepositions & variants
- get hitched to [person] → standard spouse-to-be reference (“She’s getting hitched to Omar”).
- get hitched in/at [place] → venue (“They got hitched at city hall”).
- get hitched on [date/day/season] → time (“They’re getting hitched on Saturday”).
- get hitched with [person] → heard in casual speech, but less standard than to.
- be hitched to [thing/plan] → figurative “attached/committed” (“The startup is hitched to one supplier”).
- hitch up → unrelated: fasten/raise (“hitch up your pants”).
- a hitch (noun) → a problem/glitch (“There was a hitch with the venue”). None of these mean “marry.”
Common collocations
get hitched in Vegas; get hitched at city hall; plan to get hitched; finally got hitched; getting hitched next June; high-school sweethearts got hitched; quietly got hitched; decide to get hitched; got hitched abroad; got hitched after a long engagement
Idioms & neighboring expressions
tie the knot; walk down the aisle; say “I do”; take the plunge; jump the broom (ceremonial tradition); elope; make it official
Word comparisons
- get married (neutral) vs get hitched (informal/playful).
- marry/wed (formal/concise verbs) vs get hitched (idiomatic).
- be married (state) vs be hitched (colloquial state).
- hitch (attach/fasten) and a hitch (problem) are different senses; context prevents confusion.
Real-life-style examples
- “After five years of long-distance, they got hitched in Austin.”
- “The invitation says they’re getting hitched on October 12.”
- “We kept it small and got hitched at the courthouse.”
Sample sentences
- “When are you two getting hitched?”
- “They finally got hitched after a decade together.”
- “Mara’s getting hitched to her college sweetheart.”
- “We’re thinking of getting hitched in the fall.”
- “My parents have been hitched for thirty years.”
- “He joked that he wasn’t ready to get hitched yet.”
- “They got hitched at sunrise on the beach.”
- “Getting hitched abroad meant a tiny guest list.”
- “There was a hitch with the license, but they still got hitched.”
- “If you’re getting hitched, book the venue early.”
Synonyms
get married, tie the knot, wed, marry, walk down the aisle, make it official, jump the broom, exchange vows, enter into marriage
Antonyms
break up, split up, separate, annul, divorce, call it off
Related terms
engagement, fiancé, fiancée, spouse, partner, newlyweds, nuptials, wedding, ceremony, vows, reception, elope, civil ceremony, marriage license, registry office, officiant
Does “get hitched” have any connection to sexuality?
Not directly. It’s an idiom about marriage, not sexual activity. It may appear in conversations about relationships where sex is discussed, but the phrase itself carries no sexual meaning.
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