n · informal
in-law
/ˈɪn.lɔː/IN·law
A relative by marriage rather than by blood (used after a family role, e.g. mother-in-law).
Examples
“My in-laws live two hours away, so we visit them at Christmas.”
“She gets on well with her in-laws.”
“Dealing with difficult in-laws is a common topic in family counselling.”
Band 8 sentence
“Maintaining clear boundaries with in-laws can prevent many avoidable conflicts in blended families.”
Collocations
- get on with your in-laws
- visit the in-laws
Word family
Common mistakes
say 'my in law' without hyphen or plural→write 'my in-laws' for plural and hyphenate compound family terms when full form used
use 'in-law' to refer to legal issues→use 'in-law' only for family relationships by marriage
Say it for a higher band
5family→6relative→7+in-law
Synonyms
relatives by marriage
Easily confused
relative
“She invited all her relatives to the wedding.”
Related words
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In Family & Relationships
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