Definition of Gray Divorce
(noun) A divorce between an older couple.
Example of Gray Divorce
- Two 65-year old individuals decide to divorce.
Gray Divorce Pronunciation
Syllabification: gray di·vorce
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /greɪ dɪˈvɔrs/
- British English – /greɪ dɪˈvɔːs/
Usage Notes
- Plural: gray divorces
- Variant spellings:
- gray-divorce
- grey divorce
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “gray” and “divorce” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Emery, Robert E., ed. 2013. Cultural Sociology of Divorce: An Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference.
- Hackstaff, Karla B. 1999. Marriage in a Culture of Divorce. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
- Phillips, Roderick. 1988. Putting Asunder: A History of Divorce in Western Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Wallerstein, Judith S., Julia Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee. 2000. The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study. New York: Hyperion.
- Yodanis, Carrie. 2005. “Divorce Culture and Marital Gender Equality: A Cross-national Study.” Gender & Society 19(5):644–59. doi:10.1177/0891243205278166.
Related Terms
- covenant marriage
- deinstitutionalization of marriage
- divorce
- divorced family
- divorce probability
- divorce rate
- law
- legal
- marriage
- monogamy
- single-parent family
Cite the Definition of Gray Divorce
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “gray divorce.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved November 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-divorce/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
gray divorce. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-divorce/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “gray divorce.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed November 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-divorce/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“gray divorce.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-divorce/>.