nuclear family

noun

Definition of nuclear family

: a family group that consists only of parents and children

Examples of nuclear family in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The rest of my nuclear family would rather keep the peace. — Ask Amy, oregonlive.com, "Ask Amy: Daughter wants to cut off ties with racist dad but feels guilty," 27 Aug. 2019 The nuclear family for whom suburban subdivisions were envisioned is no longer the statistical norm; only a little over a quarter of all U.S. households consist of people with children. — Andrew Moore, National Geographic, "To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars," 17 June 2019 That’s more than double the proportion of single-person residences in 1960, when the nuclear family peaked. — Lydia Belanger, Fortune, "As More Products Are Made for Single People, a Waste Conundrum Emerges," 22 June 2019 The disturbing new horror film centers on a vacationing nuclear family. — Candice Frederick, Harper's BAZAAR, "Us Offers a Terrifying Vision of Judgement Day," 26 Mar. 2019 Or maybe Will and Kate and the kids secretly do Christmas morning celebrations as a nuclear family? — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Prince George and Princess Charlotte Broke Royal Tradition by Waking Up at the Crack of Dawn on Christmas Morning," 29 Dec. 2018 These events allowed the series to keep the family-friendly vibe, while tapping into more modern storylines: namely, the non-nuclear family structure. — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, "Fuller House Focuses on Kimmy Gibbler Being Stephanie Tanner's Surrogate This Season," 14 Dec. 2018 To offset these numbers, the Trump plan would cut off sponsorship of adult relatives outside the nuclear family, including parents, and end the visa lottery. — Jessica Vaughan, National Review, "Bad Dreams on Immigration," 1 Feb. 2018 The motherhood line serves another, older purpose: These tweets and op-eds and statements are also venerations of the nuclear family. — Sarah Jones, The New Republic, "Motherhood and the Morality of Trump’s Immigration Policy," 18 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nuclear family.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.