nuclear family

[noo-klee-er fam-uh-lee, fam lee, nyoo-]

noun

1. a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children.

nuclear family

noun

1. sociol anthropol a primary social unit consisting of parents and their offspring Compare extended family

nuclear family

1. A type of family made up only of parents and their children. (Compare extended family.)

Pronunciation Note

See nuclear ( def. ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuclear family¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

“I want them to see how Easy has developed and changed over the years. And that family, even though Easy’s doesn’t look like the nuclear family, is what America has always been about.”

From Los Angeles Times

The 20th century saw the rise of the nuclear family, and most homes were bought and occupied by parents and their children.

From Los Angeles Times

The ongoing rise of single-person households, too, may chip away at a form of housing built to hold four-person nuclear families.

From Los Angeles Times

Scott recalled growing up in a working-class family in Birmingham, "in a world of soap operas and things" where TV characters were mostly in heterosexual relationships or "settled down" in a nuclear family.

From BBC

The area was gentrified by tract homes where nuclear families would settle.

From Los Angeles Times