war-baby

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Child born during wartime: "war-baby" refers to a child born during a period of armed conflict.
   • Illegitimate child fathered by a soldier: Specifically, "war-baby" often denotes a child born out of wedlock to a father who is a member of the military, typically conceived during wartime.

Usage Examples

• (Children born during the war, frequently with military fathers.)
• (Illegitimate children fathered by soldiers.)

Advanced Usage

• "war-baby generation": a cohort of people born during a specific war period.

  • The war-baby generation in Japan faced unique challenges after the conflict ended. (People born during the war era.)

• "war-baby stigma": the social shame historically attached to children born from wartime relationships.

  • In many cultures, war-babies carried a stigma that affected their entire lives. (Social disapproval of illegitimate wartime births.)

Variants and Related Words

• War baby (n, alternative spelling): same as "war-baby".

  • She was a war baby, born in 1943. (Child born during war.)

• War child (n): a broader term for any child affected by war, not necessarily illegitimate.

  • The documentary focused on war children displaced by conflict. (Children impacted by war.)

Synonyms

• Child of war: a neutral term for a child born during wartime.
• Love child of war: a euphemistic phrase for a war-baby, especially when referring to illegitimate births.
• Occupation baby: a specific type of war-baby born to a local mother and an occupying soldier.

Related Idioms

• "Born under a bad sign": sometimes used metaphorically for war-babies, implying an unlucky start in life.

  • He was a war-baby, born under a bad sign in a bombed-out city. (Born during difficult wartime circumstances.)

• "Child of the conflict": a poetic idiom for any person whose life was shaped by war, including war-babies.

  • As a war-baby, she felt like a child of the conflict her entire life. (Person born during and affected by war.)