Standard Lemma guide

hypergamy

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /haɪˈpɚɡəmi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Act or practice of seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status or caste status than oneself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: marry up

Antonyms: hypogamy

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Hellenic *hupér Ancient Greek ῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér) Ancient Greek ῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)der. English hyper- English -gamy English hypergamy From hyper- + -gamy.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 上嫁 — hypergamy
  • Danish: hypergami — hypergamy
  • Dutch: hypergamie — hypergamy
  • Finnish: hypergamia — hypergamy
  • French: hypergamie — hypergamy
  • Galician: hipergamia — hypergamy
  • German: Hypergamie — hypergamy
  • German: Hinaufheiraten — hypergamy
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hypergami — hypergamy
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hypergami — hypergamy
  • Polish: hipergamia — hypergamy
  • Portuguese: hipergamia — hypergamy
  • Russian: гипергамия (gipergamija) — hypergamy
  • Spanish: hipergamia — hypergamy
  • Swedish: hypergami — hypergamy