ex-wife

ex-wife — noun

1. a female person whose marriage to a specific individual has ended through a lega

1.nounB1
Definition

a female person whose marriage to a specific individual has ended through a legal divorce

Example

Rohan sometimes picks up his children from Leila's house, where his ex-wife now lives.

possessive + ex-wife + location after divorce

Nadia received a letter from her ex-wife about the shared apartment bills.

Common collocations
  • my / his / her / Tom's / someone's ex-wife
  • ex-wife + lives / moved / remarried
  • pay child support to one's ex-wife
  • share custody with one's ex-wife
  • ex-wife + filed for divorce
Synonyms
  • former wife

    slightly more formal; often used in legal documents or polite conversation

  • ex

    informal abbreviation; can refer to any former partner, not just a wife

  • ex-spouse

    gender-neutral alternative used in legal and formal contexts

Antonyms
  • wife

    current spouse in an ongoing marriage

  • late wife

    former wife who has died (marriage ended by death, not divorce)

Grammar Patterns

possessive determiner + ex-wife

someone's ex-wife

Usage Note

Frequently takes a possessive determiner (my, his, her, Tom's) to identify whose former spouse is being discussed. The term is neutral in register and used in both casual conversation and legal contexts. For a former spouse whose marriage ended through death rather than divorce, use 'late wife' instead.

Common Mistakes

Her ex-wife passed away last year.
Her late wife passed away last year.
Use 'late wife' when the marriage ended through death, not divorce.
She is still my ex-wife even though we never got divorced.
She is my ex-wife because we got divorced last year.
Being an 'ex-wife' requires that a divorce has been finalized.

Word family

  • ex-husband
    nounB1
  • ex-partner
    nounB1
  • ex-spouse
    nounB2
  • ex
    nounB1
  • ex-boyfriend
    nounB1
  • ex-girlfriend
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Ex-wife is the most direct and common term for a woman one has divorced. 'Former wife' carries a more formal, sometimes old-fashioned tone and appears frequently in legal documents and obituaries. 'Ex' is a casual, all-purpose shortening used for any former romantic partner — boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife — so it is less precise. 'Ex-spouse' is gender-neutral and is the preferred term in legal writing, insurance forms, and government documents where the gender of the former partner is either unknown or irrelevant. In everyday conversation, most people say 'ex-wife' or just 'ex'. For example: 'I ran into my ex-wife at the grocery store.' versus 'The policy covers the ex-spouse of the insured person.'

ex-wife ↗former wifeex ↗ex-spouse

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • former spouse
  • ex-spouse

Prepositions

  • of (e.g. the ex-wife of Mr. Chen)

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Formed by combining the prefix 'ex-' (meaning 'former' or 'no longer') with the noun 'wife'. The prefix comes from Latin 'ex', meaning 'out of' or 'away from'. The word began appearing in English legal and everyday use in the late 19th century as divorce became more common and a specific term was needed to refer to a woman after a marriage had ended.