Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of a wife; regarded as befitting a wife.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to a wife or married woman; peculiar to or befitting a wife.
  • Same as uxorious.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rare Dotingly fond of, or servilely submissive to, a wife; uxorious; also, becoming a wife; pertaining to a wife.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a wife, her genes, her relatives.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective befitting or characteristic of a wife

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin uxōrius, from uxor, wife.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin uxorius, from uxor (wife)

Support

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Examples

  • Only a sense of uxorial duty to his position stopped Hadrian from sending Sabina into exile.34

    Caesars’ Wives Annelise Freisenbruch 2010

  • After all, even Livia could not claim uxorial and maternal ties to three Augusti.

    Caesars’ Wives Annelise Freisenbruch 2010

  • She takes the sandwich from him and bites into it, an uxorial gesture meant to allay suspicion.

    The Oscars 2009

  • Ought to be fun, will enjoy whatever tidbits you dole out regarding uxorial bliss later in life or not, some things are private, even for a blogger.

    500 miles later, I'm back in Madison. Ann Althouse 2009

  • She takes the sandwich from him and bites into it, an uxorial gesture meant to allay suspicion.

    The Oscars 2009

  • We got to see vintage big Bill again this summer as he saw his uxorial partner in political brazenness lose to a rookie.

    Michael Jones: Getting Away With It 2009

  • Is that an unfair advantage in the never ending uxorial struggle to stay on the reservation?

    Nicholas von Hoffman: Unauthorized Alley Catting 2008

  • As was so often the case, P.G. Wodehouse reached deep into the heart of the matter: collecting sporting memorabilia requires dedication, a willingness to speculate, a tolerance of risk and, too often, a certain amount of the ‘iron in the soul’ that equips a man to survive uxorial disapproval.

    John Terry’s sacking as England captain tells us something interesting... 2008

  • Will I need to look uxorial up the next time John uses the word?

    Uxorial Pictures, 3/13/07 « Whatever 2007

  • # Lanna Lee Maheux-Quinnon 14 Mar 2007 at 2:28 pm chang, not only did I need to look up uxorial, I had to look it up the last time Scalzi used the word.

    Uxorial Pictures, 3/13/07 « Whatever 2007

Comments

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  • Of or pertaining to a wife or wives.

    October 9, 2007

  • Love this word. Used it in my wedding speech. 150 guests and only found one who knew what I meant! Won't use it in a wedding speech again.

    April 25, 2008

  • Let's hope you won't have to. :-)

    April 25, 2008

  • Was your wife the one who knew it, 'erh?

    September 26, 2008

  • No. 'twas my friend Andy, a Latvian dentist.

    September 27, 2008

  • They are the best dentists.

    September 27, 2008

  • Latvians? Or people who know the meaning of uxorial? ;)

    September 27, 2008

  • People called Andy. :-)

    September 27, 2008

  • *rimshot!*

    September 27, 2008

  • Correct for not noticing my friends aren't.

    September 27, 2008

  • Well, except one maybe.

    September 27, 2008

  • comment removed by janitorial staff

    October 11, 2008

  • that's 189,819 letters, people.

    October 11, 2008

  • the chemical formula is C132983H211861N36149O40883S693.

    October 11, 2008

  • dmbrthnu, that was annoying, and not just because it broke the front page. nobody wants to scroll through your gibberish.

    October 11, 2008

  • It's based on the name of Noah's wife (uxor)

    June 9, 2009