ex-husband

ex-husband — noun

1. a man who used to be someone's husband but is no longer, because their marriage

1.nounB1
Definition

a man who used to be someone's husband but is no longer, because their marriage has ended

Example

After the divorce, Priya moved out of the house she once shared with her ex-husband.

collocation: share something with one's ex-husband

Hana's ex-husband sends money every month to help pay for their daughter's school fees.

possessive + ex-husband as subject of ongoing action

Common collocations
  • my / her / his / their ex-husband
  • ex-husband pays child support
  • share custody with one's ex-husband
  • bitterly divorced ex-husband
  • stay in touch with one's ex-husband
Synonyms
  • former husband

    more formal; used in legal or official contexts

  • ex

    informal shortening; gender-neutral when context is clear

Antonyms
  • husband

    current spouse, as opposed to former

  • ex-wife

    the female equivalent of an ex-husband

Grammar Patterns

possessive + ex-husband

Usage Note

Usually appears with a possessive determiner (my, her, your, his, their, etc.). The formal equivalent is 'former husband'.

Common Mistakes

She still talks to her ex husband.
She still talks to her ex-husband.
The compound noun requires a hyphen.
She called her ex-husband her college sweetheart.' (when they were never married)
She called her ex-boyfriend her college sweetheart.
Use 'ex-husband' only for a former spouse, not a former dating partner.

Word family

  • ex-wife
    nounB1
  • ex
    nounB2
  • ex-boyfriend
    nounB1
  • ex-girlfriend
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Ex-husband is the standard term for a man who was married to someone and is now divorced from them. Former husband is a more formal alternative, often found in legal documents, court filings, or official biographies — it sounds more detached and neutral. The shortened form ex is informal and gender-neutral; in a sentence like 'I ran into my ex at the mall,' the listener may need surrounding context to know whether the speaker means an ex-husband, ex-wife, or ex-partner. Use ex-husband when clarity about the gender and the legal history of the relationship matters. For written contexts such as news articles, biographies, or formal correspondence, stick with ex-husband or former husband.

ex-husband ↗former husbandex ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • ex-husband and wife
  • my ex-husband's lawyer
  • the ex-husband of

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Formed by adding the prefix ex- (from Latin, meaning 'former' or 'out of') to the English word husband (from Old English husbonda, meaning 'male head of a household'). The prefix began to be productively attached to relationship terms in the early 20th century as divorce became more common in English-speaking societies.