adoptee

noun

adopt·​ee ə-ˌdäp-ˈtē How to pronounce adoptee (audio)
: one who is adopted

Examples of adoptee in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That makes China the hardest target for adoptees seeking birth families. Barbara Demick, New Yorker, 23 May 2025 But commissioners were divided over the very problem that prompted the adoptees' petition: a lack of accurate documentation. Se Eun Gong, NPR, 6 May 2025 Congress enacted the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 to ensure that international adoptees acquired U.S, citizenship more or less automatically, but the law fails to cover an unknown number of adoptees (somewhere between 18,000 to 75,000) who were already adults when the law passed. Time, 15 May 2025 For transracial adoption specifically, adoptees say more open and honest conversations about the process are long overdue. David Oliver, USA Today, 9 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for adoptee

Word History

Etymology

adopt + -ee entry 1

First Known Use

1804, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of adoptee was in 1804

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Adoptee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adoptee. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.

Legal Definition

adoptee

noun
adopt·​ee ə-ˌdäp-ˈtē How to pronounce adoptee (audio)
: a person who is adopted

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