marital

marital — adjective

1. relating to the institution of marriage or to the relationship between two peopl

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to the institution of marriage or to the relationship between two people who are husband and wife

Example

Yuna and Karim decided to keep their marital problems private from friends and family.

collocation: marital problems

The application form asks for your full name, date of birth, and marital status.

collocation: marital status

Common collocations
  • marital status
  • marital problems
  • marital relationship
  • marital bond
  • marital bliss
  • marital discord
  • marital vows
  • marital home
Synonyms
  • conjugal

    more formal and legal in tone; often refers to the rights and duties between spouses (e.g., conjugal rights)

  • matrimonial

    formal register; used mainly in legal and financial contexts (e.g., matrimonial home, matrimonial assets)

  • nuptial

    very formal and narrowly about the wedding ceremony itself, not ongoing married life

  • married

    describes the personal state of having a spouse; cannot replace marital before nouns like 'status' or 'problems'

Grammar Patterns

marital + noun

Usage Note

Marital is an attributive adjective — it is almost always placed before a noun (e.g., marital status, marital problems). It is not used predicatively: ❌ 'Their relationship is marital.' Use married instead for the personal state of being a husband or wife.

Common Mistakes

She is not marital yet.
She is not married yet.
Marital describes things connected with marriage (e.g., status, problems), not a person's state. Use married for personal status.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Marital is the most neutral and frequent term for anything connected with the institution of marriage (marital status, marital problems). Conjugal carries a formal, often legal tone and refers specifically to the relationship between husband and wife, especially their rights and duties (conjugal rights, conjugal visit). Matrimonial is also formal and appears mainly in legal and financial contexts relating to property or the dissolution of marriage (matrimonial home, matrimonial assets). Married, while related, describes the personal state of an individual (a married woman, a married couple) rather than the institution. You would not say 'married problems' to mean problems within a marriage, nor 'marital person' to describe someone who has a spouse. Choose marital for general reference, conjugal for formal spousal contexts, and married when referring to a person's status.

marital ↗conjugalmatrimonialmarried ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Marital comes from Latin maritalis ('of marriage'), which in turn derives from maritus ('husband'). Maritus is related to mas ('male person'). The word entered English in the late Middle English period, around the 15th century, and has retained its core meaning of 'relating to marriage' ever since.