extended family

noun

: a family that includes in one household near relatives (such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles) in addition to a nuclear family

Given space, there are ways in which even larger populations than the extended family can be accommodated under one roof.

—Paul Oliver

also : an extensive group of people who are related by blood or marriage or who otherwise regard themselves as a large family

Four out of every five people who go through a first divorce remarry … . Thus it is that husbands and wives, their former partners, children and stepchildren, and a whole constellation of grandparents and other relatives are brought together in the new American extended family.

—Michael Norman

During his five years at Owen High, he turned his teams into an extended family and tried to instill in his players the same sense of self-worth that Baldwin had imparted to him years before.

—William Nack

Synonyms

• home
• house
• household
• ménage

Examples of extended family in a Sentence

their extended family includes a grandmother and widowed aunt

Recent Examples on the Web

Nicholas Kristof describes a woman who turned to addiction and became homeless with extended family members who ended up similarly devastated from the exodus of good-paying jobs to the outside. —Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2024

Unlike the Forbes World’s Billionaires rankings, this list includes family fortunes, including those shared among extended families such as that of Kwek Leng Beng and his cousins. —Forbes Press Releases, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024

Long-dormant summer memories flickered through my head, of my sisters and cousins running, laughing and playing games in the yard at family potlucks while the dozen or so women of my extended family worked in the kitchen and the men lounged in the shade outside. —Robert Leonard, USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2024

The one-season show followed Williams and her extended family in Atlanta. —Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1935, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

extended family

noun

: a family that includes parents and children and other relatives (as grandparents, aunts, or uncles) in the same household

Medical Definition

extended family

noun

: a family that includes in one household near relatives in addition to a nuclear family