1
law
: the action or an instance of legally dissolving (see dissolve entry 1 sense 1d) a marriage
2
: separation, severance
divorce of the secular and the spiritual
divorced; divorcing
1
law
a
: to legally dissolve one's marriage with : to end marriage with (one's spouse) by divorce (see divorce entry 1 sense 1)
She divorced her husband.
b
: to dissolve the marriage contract between
They were divorced last year.
They are getting divorced.
2
: to make or keep separate : separate
divorce church from state
media narratives divorced from reality
law
: to obtain a divorce
They divorced two years later.
di·vor·cé
də-ˌvȯr-ˈsā 
-ˈsē
-ˈsē
-ˈvȯr-ˌsā
: a divorced man
Examples of divorce in a Sentence
Noun (1)
Since getting a divorce, she has been raising her children alone.
They went through a lengthy divorce.
Their marriage ended in divorce.
Financial problems are a leading cause of divorce.
Verb
After years of unhappiness, she decided to divorce him.
They both agreed it was best to divorce.
Their constitution divorces church and state.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alan Light, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
When the couple reached a divorce settlement, Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon, worth more than $38 billion, according to Bloomberg.
—Taylor Ardrey, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Michael Saponara, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2025
David Ozer’s father, Marty, was divorced from Barbara before the Korn incident but was working at Fox TV at the time.
—Steve Belanger, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for divorce
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Noun
There was affairs and divorces and whispers and gossip, all the stuff that makes good bands break up.
—Alan Light, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
When the couple reached a divorce settlement, Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon, worth more than $38 billion, according to Bloomberg.
—Taylor Ardrey, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
Her psoriasis flared up for the first time since getting divorced, and she was also diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2025
David Ozer’s father, Marty, was divorced from Barbara before the Korn incident but was working at Fox TV at the time.
—Steve Belanger, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for divorce
Cite this Entry
“Divorce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divorce. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
divorce
1 of 3 noun
di·vorce
də-ˈvōrs
-ˈvȯrs
1
: the action or an instance of legally ending a marriage
2
: complete separation
divorcé
3 of 3 noun
di·vor·cé
də-ˌvōr-ˈsā
-ˌvȯr-
-ˌvȯr-
-ˈsē
: a divorced man
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