# stepfather vs stepmother

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### stepfather
*noun · frequency rank #21,370*
The husband of one's biological mother after her initial marriage to or relationship with one's biological father.

### stepmother
*noun · IPA /ˈstɛpmʌðə/ · frequency rank #23,689*
The wife of one's biological father, other than one's biological mother.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stepfather-vs-stepmother