a woman who is not married, especially an older woman who is not likely to marry The sisters were to remain spinsters for the rest of their lives. This word should not now be used to mean simply a woman who is not married.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
NAmE//ˈspɪnstərˌhʊd//
noun [uncountable] For most women, marriage used to bring a higher status than spinsterhood.See spinster in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: spinster