Would you describe an adult whose parents had died as an orphan?

[matahairyy]

Parents had died when they were an adult obviously?
Or is an orphan a child? Terminology wise.

Definitely think orphan is for a child. It sounds weird having an adult call themselves an orphan

Curtesy of Google :- An orphan is someone who has lost both parents. Usually, we think of sad little children when we think of orphans, but anyone whose parents have both died is an orphan. ... Each lost their parents in different ways, but all of them had their lives similarly changed—they felt adrift without a parent to guide them.

An orphan is child who has lost, never known or been abandoned by its parent/s

An orphan is a child deprived of parents and whilst I accept that even if you are 60, you are still someone's child, you are no longer actually a child yourself.

Given we only live for approx 80 years, it is normal for adults to lose their parents and no, we don't all become orphans when that happens to us.

If I read in a book ‘Jane was an orphan’ I’d assume that she had lost her parents when she was a child, not when she was an adult.
‘Jane had lost both her parents by the age of 25’ is more suited to an adult.

If I heard you talking about someone and described them as an orphan, without any other context, then I would naturally assume that you were talking about a child or maybe a teenager. If you were talking about an adult I’d then (perhaps wrongly) assume that that person was an over emotional/needy type.

For context, both my parents died before I was 30, but I never felt like an “orphan” as I was a grown up myself: I had a good job, was on to my second house purchase and had got married. Not that I didn’t miss my parents (still do) but it didn’t mean I lost my “place” in the world, which is how I imagine it feels if you lose your parents when you are very young.

An orphan is a child. An adult calling themselves an orphan when both parents have passed, is being an absolute attention seeking drama llama.

I can understand a feeling of being bereft and the loneliness, but orphaned? No.

@BustedDreams - use Google’s dictionary not a random page. The dictionary is quite clear an orphan is a child that has lost their parents.

The dictionary says a child

knittedfairies I agree entirely with your post.
Would never ever call myself an orphan but there is something about losing your second parent that makes it clear to you the people who loved you unconditionally are gone now - hence the feeling of being orphaned.

I'd lost both my parents by the time I was mid 40s. Although I know I'm not technically an 'orphan' as that to me describes a child, I did use the term at the time to explain how I felt alone and adrift. So i think in a descriptive way it's fine to use orphan for an adult.

A parent will use the term 'children' for their offspring even if said offspring are in their 60s. Funny how noone sees that as strange.

My second parent recently died. I am in my 50s. My siblings and I have said a few times ‘we’re orphans now I guess’ then laughed at the absurdity of that word for us.

I totally agree the word is for younger er orphans.

If I had to put an age where I think it may start to become inappropriate - 23/24 ish ???? If an only child I think for some reason I’d understand it more a little older than those with siblings.

No, I wouldn't. I would say an orphan is a child who can't look after themselves legally, whose parents have both died. Otherwise, most adults will end up as orphans, because the vast majority are pre-deceased by their parents.

I did have an online acquaintance in her forties who was constantly the victim of bad luck and unfortunate circumstance. She had people that she met online sending her stuff to help her out and had all sorts of other help in real life but still year after year, her online profile would be filled with woe and bad luck stories. One of the reasons for this which was constantly repeated was that she was an orphan. In her forties. She had had her parents alive longer into adulthood than me! In the end it became too much for me and I had to drop contact due to other concerning behaviour.

Spidey66 A parent will use the term 'children' for their offspring even if said offspring are in their 60s. Funny how noone sees that as strange.

One of the strangest things my parents came out with in their somewhat laissez-faire attitude to parenting was to object to me calling myself their child. It would go thus: me, aged 20 or so, "but I'm still your child". My mother or father: "You're not a child any more".

Perhaps that's why I didn't consider myself an orphan when they passed away!

My DH lost his DF in his early twenties and even though he is still devastated by that, he would never describe himself as an orphan. Where he comes from children do get orphaned quite regularly and he has seen the results for himself (12-16year olds going out to work due as they took on the responsibility for siblings; living on the street; etc etc) and knows it’s not even remotely comparable.

The word child has more than one meaning though. There is the legal definition of being a minor/not an adult and there is also the familial definition of being offspring.

I tend to think of being orphaned from the legal perspective, so to me it means a minor/ non-adult whose parents have died - not the 60 year old whose 90 year old parents have just passed away.

If an adult described themselves as an orphan I'd assume they were a child when their parents died. So raised by the care system or a relation (auntie / granny)

Personally, I'd describe anyone whose parents were dead as an orphan. As would the Pirates of Penzance.

I am one - but I don’t identify as an orphan. I just say that my parents have died of anyone asks about them. An
Orphan is def a child who’s lost both parents. I’m an adult w my own children who will both be adults within 3 years (eek).

I would generally associate the ternwitg someone who had lost both parents while still in childhood (under 18)

I can understand how someone who this applied to might still identify as being an orphan once they are an adult though

term with NOT ternwitg

I would but that’s cos I’m highly dramatic

I also called my DP “my landlord” when we lived at his flat

And call him “my first husband” too

See. Dramarama.

Im 46 both my parents died when i was an adult.I wouldnt class myself as an orphan.

My parents died when I was 11. I was an orphan, so I suppose I am still one now.

I tend to say that I am completely orphaned, if it's necessary to mention it all, because it's quick and gets the point across that my whole family died but it was not recent.

I had never really thought that I could be being judged for this, or considered attention seeking, somehow.

I'd welcome thoughts on how I should describe this, when it's necessary. I can say, "My family all died when I was 11", but that seems to upset people and creates a horrendous awkwardness in a way that "I was orphaned" does not.