unmarriageable
Definition
- Adjective:
- Not suitable for marriage: "unmarriageable" describes a person considered unfit or ineligible for marriage, often due to social, personal, or legal reasons.
- Below the legal age for marriage: In some contexts, it can refer to someone who has not yet reached the minimum age required by law to marry.
Usage Examples
- (Considered unsuitable for marriage due to personal traits.)
- (Judged ineligible for marriage based on social norms.)
- (Below the legal age for marriage.)
Advanced Usage
"to be considered unmarriageable": to be judged by society or family as not fit for matrimony.
- His reckless behaviour made him unmarriageable in the eyes of the community. (His actions led to social rejection as a potential spouse.)
"unmarriageable status": a social or legal condition preventing marriage.
- The unmarriageable status of the prince was due to a royal decree. (A formal prohibition on his marriage.)
Variants and Related Words
- Unmarriageable (adj): the base form, as defined above.
- Marriageable (adj): suitable or eligible for marriage.
- She is of marriageable age. (Old enough to marry legally or socially.)
- Marriage (n): the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners.
Synonyms
- Ineligible for marriage: not qualified or permitted to marry.
- Unfit for matrimony: lacking the qualities or conditions expected for marriage.
- Unwedable: a rare synonym meaning not able to be married.
Related Idioms
Left on the shelf: (informal) describing an older person, especially a woman, who has not married and is considered unlikely to do so.
- At 40, she was left on the shelf and seen as unmarriageable. (Considered too old to find a spouse.)
Past one's prime: no longer in the best or most desirable period for marriage.
- He was past his prime and therefore unmarriageable in the eyes of matchmakers. (Beyond the ideal age for marriage.)