Meanings
- uncountableA preference for marrying a spouse of lower social class.
Men like Mr. Lim, according to Government officials, often end up marrying "downward" - hypogamy - after they fail to win a woman of their own educational level.
1988 November 7, Seth Mydans, “Singapore Journal; How to Marry Up, and Avoid the Frogs and Nerds”, in The New York Times1 more example
The reverse (hypogamy) is rare because with marriage a woman and her future offspring take on the social position of the husband, and so an upper‐class woman marrying a lower‐class man reduces her position as well as that of her children.
1972 August 27, Sheila K. Johnson, “A woman anthropologist offers a solution to the woman problem”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: marrying down
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA preference for marrying a spouse of lower social class.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 下嫁
- 下嫁 (xiàjià)hypogamy
Danish hypogami
- hypogamihypogamy
Dutch hypogamie
- hypogamiehypogamy
Finnish hypogamia
- hypogamiahypogamy
French hypogamie
- hypogamiehypogamy
German Hypogamie, Hinabheiraten
- Hypogamiehypogamy
- Hinabheiratenhypogamy
Norwegian Bokmål hypogami
- hypogamihypogamy
Polish hipogamia
- hipogamiahypogamy
Portuguese hipogamia
- hipogamiahypogamy
Spanish hipogamia
- hipogamiahypogamy
Swedish hypogami
- hypogamihypogamy
Cite this entry
hypogamy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypogamy
“hypogamy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypogamy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hypogamy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypogamy.
Source: hypogamy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.