Meaning & use
empty nester
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A parent whose children have grown up and moved out of the family home.
Grammar: Takes a: they are empty nesters now.
Patterns
- become an empty nester
- empty nesters in something
Now that their youngest has started college, they are empty nesters.
As an empty nester, she finally took up painting again.
Many empty nesters choose to move to smaller homes.
nouncountablebusiness
In marketing and housing, a middle-aged or older couple seen as a group of buyers with no children at home.
Grammar: Often plural in business writing: empty nesters spend more on travel.
Patterns
- market to empty nesters
- homes for empty nesters
The developer built condos aimed at empty nesters.
Cruise companies target empty nesters with long trips.
Empty nesters often have more spare money than young families.
Word forms
| plural | empty nesters |
|---|
Common combinations
- become an empty nester
- They became empty nesters last September.
- newly empty nesters
- The newly empty nesters booked a trip to Italy.
- empty nester couple
- An empty nester couple bought the house.
- empty nester syndrome
- Some parents describe a kind of empty nester syndrome after the move.
- housing for empty nesters
- The town offers new housing for empty nesters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- retiree
- A retiree has stopped working, which says nothing about whether children live at home.
- older couple
- Older couple describes age only, while empty nester describes the family stage.
- downsizer
- A downsizer is someone who moves to a smaller home, which empty nesters often do but not always.
Word family
- empty nest noun
- a home after the children have left
- nest noun
- a home built by birds, also used figuratively for a family home
- empty-nest syndrome noun
- sadness some parents feel when children move out
Commonly confused: empty nester or empty nest?
empty nester vs empty nest
Empty nest names the situation or the home, while empty nester names the person living in it.
Practice
After their youngest daughter left for college, Tom and Ana became ___.
Choose one answer.
Empty nesters are parents whose children have left home. New parents describes the opposite situation, and homeowners and retirees do not refer to children moving out.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “empty nester”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.