Meaning & use
alimony
Last updated
UK/ˈælɪməni/
US/ˈælɪmoʊni/
Meaning
noununcountablelegal
Money a court orders someone to pay regularly to a former husband or wife after a divorce or separation.
Grammar: No plural and no 'an': pay alimony, not 'pay an alimony'.
Patterns
- pay alimony to someone
- receive alimony from someone
He pays alimony to his ex-wife every month.
The judge set the alimony at a fixed amount for five years.
She did not ask for alimony because she earned enough on her own.
Common combinations
- pay alimony
- After the divorce he had to pay alimony.
- receive alimony
- She receives alimony until she remarries.
- alimony payments
- His alimony payments end next year.
- seek alimony
- She decided to seek alimony in court.
- alimony and child support
- The agreement covered both alimony and child support.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spousal support
- A more neutral modern legal term for the same payment.
- maintenance
- The usual British word and can also include support for children.
Word family
- alimentary adjective
- related to food or nourishment, from the same Latin root
Commonly confused: alimony or child support?
alimony vs child support
Child support goes towards raising children; alimony goes to a former spouse.
Practice
Who normally receives alimony?
Choose one answer.
Alimony is paid to a former husband or wife. Money for children is child support.
Make it your own
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