Definition and pronunciation
married /ˈmærid/ — adjective meaning “having a spouse; in the state of marriage.”
Also the past tense and past participle of marry /ˈmæri/ (“They married in 2018”; “They have married twice”).
Easy explanation
Married means two people are officially spouses. If you’re married, you have a husband, wife, or legally recognized partner.
Grammatical formation
- Adjective: married; comparative/ superlative not used. Attributive uses: married couple, married life, married name.
- Verb form (from marry): married = past tense/participle (“They married,” “have married”).
- Typical frames (adjective): be/get/stay/remain married; married to [person]; married with [children].
- Register: neutral and common in speech and writing.
Meanings and nuances
- State of being a spouse: “She is married.”
- Attributive description: “married couple,” “married life.”
- Past event (verb form): “They married last June” (focus on the wedding event).
- Figurative attachment: “He’s married to his job” (strongly committed or dependent).
With prepositions and variants
- married to [person] → identifies the spouse: “She’s married to Rafi.”
- married with [children/other details] → adds family info: “Married with two kids.”
- married in [year/place] (verb sense) → “They married in Dhaka in 2020.”
- married into [family/class] → joined by marrying: “He married into a political family.”
- married off [person] (phrasal, often passive) → arranged someone’s marriage: “She was married off young.”
Common collocations
married couple, married life, married name, happily married, newly married, long-married, stay married, get married young, married with children, married for decades, married friends, married status, married partner, married household
Idioms and neighboring expressions
get married, tie the knot, walk down the aisle, wedded bliss, in wedlock, make it official, jump the broom, settle down, be hitched, marry into, married to the job
Word comparisons
- married vs single/unmarried: opposites describing status.
- married vs engaged: engaged = promised to marry; married = already spouses.
- married (adj) vs marry/married (verb): adjective names the state; verb marks the event/action.
- married vs wed/wedded: wed/wedded are formal/literary; married is standard.
- married vs in a civil union/domestic partnership: legal recognition varies by jurisdiction; not always identical to marriage.
Real-life examples
- “They’ve been married for 15 years.”
- “On forms, tick ‘married’ for marital status.”
- “After dating for a decade, they finally got married.”
- “She kept her maiden name after she got married.”
- “He’s practically married to his work during campaign season.”
Sample sentences
- “Are you married or single?”
- “They got married in a small courthouse ceremony.”
- “My married name is different from my birth name.”
- “They remain happily married despite long work trips.”
- “He’s married to an architect.”
- “We married in 2012 and moved soon after.”
- “She’s married with three children.”
- “He married into a family of musicians.”
- “Her parents tried to have her married off at eighteen.”
- “Staying married takes communication and patience.”
Synonyms
wedded, wed, hitched, in wedlock, united in marriage, espoused
Antonyms
single, unmarried, divorced, separated, widowed
Related terms
spouse, partner, husband, wife, fiancé, fiancée, marriage, matrimony, wedding, nuptials, newlyweds, marital, marital status, conjugal, civil union, domestic partnership, common-law marriage
Connection to sexuality
“Married” is not a sexual term. It names a legal/social status. Sexual topics (e.g., marital intimacy, family planning) can be discussed in marriages, but the word itself carries no sexual meaning.
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