families

[fam-uh-leez, fam-leez] / ˈfæm ə liz, ˈfæm liz /

NOUN

kin, offspring; classification

Synonyms

STRONGEST

clan folk group house household people tribe

STRONG

ancestors ancestry birth blood brood children class descendants descent dynasty extraction forebears genealogy generations genre in-laws inheritance issue kind kindred line lineage network parentage pedigree progenitors progeny race relations relationship relatives siblings strain subdivision system

WEAK

heirs and assigns kith and kin menage ménage

Antonyms

STRONG

parent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The State Department said it is using "commonsense tools to support American families and strengthen compliance" with US laws in an approach it said would enforce parents' "legal and moral obligations to their children".

From BBC • May 7, 2026

My maternal grandparents’ families were murdered in the Holocaust and I just couldn’t understand this mother’s choice.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Last year’s Palisades and Eaton fires sent thousands of families on a quest for shelter.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

Doctors at St. Louis-based Mercy, which runs birthing hospitals in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, began noticing an uptick in families turning down the vitamin K shot during the pandemic.

From Salon • May 7, 2026

Thousands of grieving families wondered about the afterlife as war churned wives into widows and children into orphans.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock