stepfamily

noun

"stepfamily" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stepfamily” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any family having one or more stepchildren or stepparents.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stepfamily · stepfamily · English

stepfamily · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for stepfamily
PropertyValue
Headwordstepfamily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stepfamily” in English

stepfamilysits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stepfamily is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for stepfamily in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From step- + family. The correct English form is stepfamily, spelled S-T-E-P-F-A-M-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any family having one or more stepchildren or stepparents.
  2. 2
    The family of one's stepfather or stepmother; those immediate family members not related by blood.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how stepfamily appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Researchers are finding that the incidence of violence and abuse is vastly greater in stepfamilies than in traditional families in which the children are biologically related to both parents and to one other.
  2. Meanwhile, thanks to the huge number of second marriages, a third of all Americans are part of a stepfamily.

Etymology

From step- + family.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stepfamily"?
"stepfamily" is spelled S-T-E-P-F-A-M-I-L-Y.
What does "stepfamily" mean?
As a noun, "stepfamily" means: Any family having one or more stepchildren or stepparents.
What is the origin of the word "stepfamily"?
From step- + family. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list