Meaning & use
wedding prenup
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Meaning
nouncountableinformal
An informal way to refer to a prenuptial agreement, a legal contract about money and property made before a couple marries.
Grammar: Countable and informal: 'a wedding prenup', 'wedding prenups'. The formal term is 'prenuptial agreement', often shortened to 'prenup'.
Patterns
- sign a wedding prenup
- have a wedding prenup
- a wedding prenup agreement
They signed a wedding prenup before the ceremony to protect the family business.
Her lawyer suggested a wedding prenup, but he did not want one.
In some countries a wedding prenup must be signed well before the wedding day.
Word forms
| plural | wedding prenups |
|---|
Common combinations
- sign a wedding prenup
- The couple decided to sign a wedding prenup before buying a house together.
- a wedding prenup agreement
- A wedding prenup agreement can cover debts as well as property.
- draw up a wedding prenup
- Their lawyer drew up a wedding prenup in two weeks.
- without a wedding prenup
- They married without a wedding prenup and later regretted it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prenup
- The short, informal form of 'prenuptial agreement'; it is more common than 'wedding prenup' and needs no extra word.
- prenuptial agreement
- The full legal term; use it in contracts, news reports, and formal writing.
- antenuptial agreement
- A formal legal term used in some documents; it means the same thing but is rare in speech.
Word family
- prenuptial adjective
- Happening or made before a marriage, as in a prenuptial agreement.
- nuptial adjective
- Relating to marriage or a wedding; it is formal and often literary.
- postnuptial adjective
- Made after a marriage, as in a postnuptial agreement.
Commonly confused: wedding prenup or prenup?
wedding prenup vs prenup
This short form alone is the everyday word. Adding 'wedding' is redundant but common in search and casual speech; in careful writing use 'prenup' or 'prenuptial agreement'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly and naturally?
Choose one answer.
A prenup is signed before the marriage. Option 2 confuses it with wedding planning, option 3 uses the noun as a verb, and option 4 describes the wrong thing entirely.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wedding prenup”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.