Get Engaged: Meaning, Usage & Examples

Meaning 1：agree to marry (get engaged)

get engaged 🔊

/ɡɛt ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/

phr.v.

To agree to marry someone, often by giving a ring and making a promise.

Couple celebrating engagement with ring and family

agree to marry 🔊

➕

/əˈɡriː tuː ˈmæri/

phr.v.

To formally agree to marry someone, typically after a proposal, often symbolized by exchanging rings.

📁 Category：Social Roles 🔖 Level：beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From 'get' + 'engaged' (Old French 'engagier', from 'en-' + 'gage' meaning pledge).

💡 Mnemonic

Think 'get' + 'engaged' = 'gained a pledge' — you've pledged to marry.

📖 Example

John and Mary got engaged last weekend during a romantic dinner at their favorite restaurant. 🔊 John and Mary got engaged last weekend during a romantic dinner at their favorite restaurant.

🔗 Collocations

get engaged to someone – become betrothed to a specific person

recently engaged – having just become engaged

announce one's engagement – make public that one is engaged

🔄 Synonyms

become betrothed (phr.) – Formally promise to marry, often in a traditional context.

get hitched (phr.v.) – Informal phrase meaning to get married or engaged in a quick manner.

tie the knot (phr.v.) – Informal idiom meaning to get married or become engaged as a step toward marriage.

🚫 Antonyms

break off the engagement (phr.v.) – End a formal agreement to marry.

get divorced (phr.v.) – Legally end a marriage.

separate (v.) – Cease living together as a couple, often leading to divorce.

🌱 Derivatives

engagement (n.) – The formal agreement to marry; also a period of being engaged.

engaged (adj.) – Having agreed to marry; also busy or occupied.

engage (v.) – To attract or involve; also to become engaged (rare).

📖 Cultural Story

The phrase stems from medieval betrothals where a ring was given as a pledge (gage). 'Engage' entered English in the 15th century from French, meaning to bind or pledge.