uncle

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt.

   Grammar: Countable noun: use 'an uncle' for one, 'uncles' for more than one.

   Patterns

   • my uncle
   • Uncle [name]
   • an uncle of mine

   My uncle lives in Chicago and works as a chef.

   We visited Uncle Robert and Aunt May last weekend.

   She has three uncles on her mother's side.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A polite or affectionate title used before a man's name by children, especially for a close friend of the family.

   Grammar: Used as a title before a name, like 'Uncle Tom'; still countable when referring to the person.

   Patterns

   • Uncle [name]
   • call someone uncle

   As a child, I called our neighbor Uncle Joe.

   Uncle Ben always brought us sweets when he visited.

Word forms

Common combinations

Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam is often used to represent the United States government.

Uncle Tom

'Uncle Tom' is an offensive term and should be avoided.

my uncle on my mother's side

My uncle on my mother's side is a teacher.

great-uncle

My great-uncle fought in the war.

Synonyms and how they differ

Opposites

Word family

uncle noun

The base word itself.

great-uncle noun

The brother of your grandparent.

uncle-in-law noun

The uncle of your spouse, or the husband of your aunt by marriage.

Commonly confused: uncle or ant? uncle or ankle?

Practice

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