Phrase guide

kissing cousin

noun · 3 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌkɪsɪŋ ˈkʌzn̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌkɪsɪŋ ˈkʌz(ə)n/
  • General-American: /-ˈkʌzɪn/
  • rhymes with -ʌzən

1

noun

Meaning 1

A relatively distant relative, or a friend, who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kissing kin

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A thing which is related or similar to another thing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cousin, cousin-german, kissing kin

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a more or less distant relative; familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kissing kin

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: relative, relation

History

Etymology

From kissing + cousin.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Kuss-Cousin — relatively distant relative, or friend, familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss
  • German: Kuss-Cousine — relatively distant relative, or friend, familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss