Widowed means your husband or wife has died. It works in two ways.

Widowed這個字 means的意思是 your husband or wife你的先生或太太 has died過世了。It works in two ways它的用法有兩種。

As an adjective it describes the person now living in that state: "her widowed father", "she has been widowed for ten years". As a passive verb it names the event: "she was widowed at thirty" means her husband died when she was thirty.

As an adjective當形容詞用時 it describes它描述 the person now living in that state現在處於那個狀態的人：'her widowed father'她喪偶的父親、'she has been widowed for ten years'她已經守寡十年了。As a passive verb當被動動詞用時 it names它指的是 the event那個事件：'she was widowed at thirty'她三十歲就守寡了 means意思是 her husband died when she was thirty她三十歲時先生就過世了。

Notice that English has no active version people use — you would not say "cancer widowed her" in ordinary speech, though writers do it for effect.

Notice要注意 that English has no active version people use英文沒有人們常用的主動用法——in ordinary speech在日常口語中 you would not say你不會說 'cancer widowed her'，though writers do it for effect雖然作家會為了效果這樣寫。

The word covers both men and women, which is useful, because the nouns widow and widower split by sex and can feel blunt.

The word這個字 covers both men and women男女都適用，which is useful這點很有用，because因為 the nouns widow and widower widow 和 widower 這兩個字 split by sex按性別分開，and can feel blunt有時顯得太直白。

It is also the polite, quiet way to say it: forms ask you to tick single / married / widowed / divorced, and at a funeral someone will say "she was widowed young" rather than "her husband died".

It is also也是 the polite, quiet way to say it一種委婉低調的說法: forms表格 ask you to tick會要你勾選 single / married / widowed / divorced單身／已婚／喪偶／離婚，and而 at a funeral在喪禮上 someone will say有人會說 'she was widowed young' rather than而不是 'her husband died'。

One important limit — it only applies if the couple were married. If an unmarried partner dies, English simply has no equal word, and people have to say "her partner died". Note also that being widowed and then marrying again means you are no longer described as widowed.

One important limit有一個重要的限制 — it only applies if the couple were married只適用於已婚的情況。If an unmarried partner dies如果沒結婚的伴侶過世了，English simply has no equal word英文就沒有對應的字，and people have to say而只能說 'her partner died'。Note also that另外要注意 being widowed and then marrying again守寡後又再婚，means就 you are no longer described as widowed不再被稱為widowed了。