Meaning & use
bride-to-be
Last updated
UK/ˌbraɪd tə ˈbiː/
US/ˌbraɪd tə ˈbi/
Meaning
nouncountable
A woman who is engaged and is going to be married soon.
Grammar: Plural is brides-to-be: the three brides-to-be.
Patterns
- the bride-to-be
- a bride-to-be
Her friends threw a party for the bride-to-be.
The bride-to-be tried on three dresses on Saturday.
A shy bride-to-be walked in with her mother.
Word forms
| plural | brides-to-be |
|---|
Common combinations
- the bride-to-be
- The bride-to-be chose the flowers herself.
- gift for the bride-to-be
- We bought a gift for the bride-to-be.
- excited bride-to-be
- An excited bride-to-be waited by the door.
- toast the bride-to-be
- Guests raised a glass to toast the bride-to-be.
- bride-to-be sash
- She wore a bride-to-be sash at the party.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fiancée
- Fiancée is a French-origin word for a woman engaged to be married, and sounds more formal than bride-to-be.
- betrothed
- Betrothed is old-fashioned and literary, rarely used in everyday speech.
- engaged woman
- Engaged woman is plain and describes status, while bride-to-be points toward the wedding day.
- bride
- Bride usually means the woman on her wedding day, not the weeks beforehand.
Opposites
groom-to-be
Word family
- bride noun
- a woman at her wedding
- bridal adjective
- relating to a bride or wedding
- groom-to-be noun
- a man who is engaged and will soon marry
- bridesmaid noun
- a woman who attends the bride at the wedding
Commonly confused: bride-to-be or fiancée?
bride-to-be vs fiancée
Fiancée can sound formal; bride-to-be is warmer and common in party and wedding planning.
Practice
The women met for a party in honor of the ____, who would marry in June.
Choose one answer.
A bride-to-be is a woman soon to marry. A fiancé is a man, and a bridesmaid does not marry.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bride-to-be”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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