in-lawry

noun

The condition of being an in-law.

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Meanings

nounin-lawry (uncountable)
  1. rareuncountableThe condition of being an in-law.

    If he has no deep understanding of individual conduct, like any good provincial observer he can perceive the hidden network of groups, […] by the complicated genealogies of in-lawry.

    1969, Richard Cobb, “Maigret’s Paris”, in Derwent May, editor, Good Talk 2: An Anthology from BBC Radio, New York, N.Y.: Taplinger Publishing Company, published 1970, →ISBN, →LCCN, part IV (Imaginings), page 230
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    In the course of a long life we have only met one person who claimed to be wholly guiltless of “in-lawry.” […] For those who waste their time on reflection it is curious to note that although, as has been pointed out, “in-lawry” is the common fate of the entire human race—you may get through life untouched by fire, water, small-pox, or bankruptcy, but here is no escape—the entire human race continues to remain in open revolt at the situation, alternately gibbing and buck-jumping, as if it were a new impost invented of a cheeseparing Exchequer Chancellor to vex the souls and rob the tills of unoffending citizens.

    1898 April 1, “Social Suggestions for 1898. IX.—A Plea for the ‘In-Law.’”, in The Westminster Gazette, special edition, volume XI, number 1,588, London: […] John Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 1, column 3

    Just as we parents are inclined to reveal certain human frailties which parenthood tends to bring out, so also we grandparents and in-laws are inclined to reveal certain human frailties which our grandparenthood and in-lawry tend to uncover.

    1945 March 1, Garry C. Myers, “Parent Problems”, in Pottstown Mercury, volume 14, number 132, Pottstown, Pa.: Pottstown Daily News Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 4, column 7

Origin

From in-law + -ry.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

in-lawry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in-lawry

MLA

“in-lawry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in-lawry. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in-lawry,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in-lawry.

Source: in-lawry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.