Meaning & use
unwed father
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
a man who has become a biological father but has never married the child's mother.
Grammar: Countable; used mainly in legal, official, or formal writing.
Patterns
- an unwed father
- the unwed father of a child
The court ruled that the unwed father had the right to be involved in his child's life.
As an unwed father, he faced extra paperwork to establish paternity.
The charity offers support groups for unwed fathers.
Word forms
| plural | unwed fathers |
|---|
Common combinations
- unwed father of a child
- He is the unwed father of a two-year-old girl.
- rights of unwed fathers
- The law protects the rights of unwed fathers.
- unwed teenage father
- The program helps unwed teenage fathers finish school.
Synonyms and how they differ
- single father
- This is the everyday term and does not say whether the man was ever married; it focuses on his current situation.
- unmarried father
- Similar in meaning but slightly less formal and less common in legal writing.
Word family
- unwed mother noun
- the female equivalent; a woman who has a child but has never married
- unwed adjective
- not married; used of a parent or sometimes a couple
Commonly confused: unwed father or unwed mother?
unwed father vs unwed mother
Refers to the woman, not the man; be careful with the gender.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'unwed father' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Unwed father' means a man who has a child but never married the mother. Option An is wrong because divorce means he was married. Option C is wrong because 'father' is male. Option D is wrong because the term requires a child.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unwed father”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.