Definition

1. Noun:
   • A parent whose children have grown up and left home: An "empty nester" is a person, typically a parent, who lives in a home that has become quieter and less occupied because their adult children have moved out to live independently.

Usage

• The term describes the life stage and emotional experience of parents after their children leave the family home. It often implies an adjustment to a quieter household and a shift in daily routines and identity.
• It is commonly used in discussions about family life, psychology, sociology, and real estate.

Examples

• Noun:
  • After their youngest daughter went to college, John and Maria became empty nesters.
  • Many empty nesters decide to downsize to a smaller house.
  • The community center offers social activities for empty nesters looking to meet new people.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used to describe a specific demographic group targeted by marketers, travel agencies, or housing developers.
• It can also refer to the emotional state or period of adjustment itself, e.g., "the empty nester phase."

Variants and Related Words

• Empty nest (noun): The situation or the home itself after the children have left.
  • They are adjusting to life in an empty nest.
• Empty-nest syndrome (noun): Feelings of sadness, loneliness, or loss that some parents experience when their children leave home.
  • She experienced a mild case of empty-nest syndrome when her son moved out.

Synonyms

• Parent of grown children: A more formal and descriptive synonym.
• Post-parental adult: A less common, more clinical term.

Related Phrases

• To have an empty nest: To be in the situation where one's children have left home.
  • They will have an empty nest next fall.
• To become an empty nester: To transition into this stage of life.
  • He wasn't sure how he would feel when he became an empty nester.

Noun

1. a parent whose children have grown up and left home