mal mariée

noun

A young woman with a much older, jealous, and controlling husband, especially as a literary motif in medieval European romances.

OriginFrench mal mariée →
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Meanings

nounmal mariée (plural mal mariées)

plural mal mariées

  1. A young woman with a much older, jealous, and controlling husband, especially as a literary motif in medieval European romances.

Origin

  1. Frenchmal mariée“poorly married [woman]”
  2. Englishmal mariée

Learned borrowing from French mal mariée (“poorly married [woman]”). Compare Middle French maumariée (from mau- + mariée).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mal mariée. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mal%20mari%C3%A9e

MLA

“mal mariée.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mal%20mari%C3%A9e. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mal mariée,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mal%20mari%C3%A9e.

Source: mal mariée on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.