Meaning & use
nuclear family
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A household made up of two parents and their children, living together without other relatives.
Grammar: Usually takes an or the: a nuclear family; the nuclear family.
Patterns
- a nuclear family of something
- the rise of the nuclear family
They grew up in a nuclear family in a small suburban house.
Sociologists compare the nuclear family with the extended family.
In many cultures, grandparents live with the household rather than apart from a nuclear family.
Word forms
| plural | nuclear families |
|---|
Common combinations
- traditional nuclear family
- The ad showed a traditional nuclear family around a dinner table.
- raise a nuclear family
- They hoped to raise a nuclear family in the countryside.
- typical nuclear family
- A typical nuclear family in the survey had two children.
- break down the nuclear family
- Some critics say modern work patterns break down the nuclear family.
Synonyms and how they differ
- immediate family
- Immediate family is wider because it can include siblings and parents who live elsewhere, while a nuclear family means the parents and children in one household.
- household
- A household is anyone living together, related or not, so it is less specific than a nuclear family.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: nuclear family or extended family?
nuclear family vs extended family
An extended family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, not just parents and children.
Practice
Which group is best described as a nuclear family?
Choose one answer.
A nuclear family is parents and their children in one home. The farm group is an extended family, and unrelated friends are not a family unit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nuclear family”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.