Akademik

n.

A first marriage that lasts only a short time and that ends in a clean (i.e., no kids, no property, no acrimony) divorce. (Cf. starter home.)

"The past ten years has seen a surge in what are now called 'starter' marriages, as ephemeral as spring."

— Lynn Darling, "For better and worse," Esquire, May, 1996

Marriage and family experts — psychologists, sociologists, lawyers and clergy — are beginning to look at these brief young unions, seeing in their implications a barometer of society's attitudes about marriage and divorce. Some say starter marriages signal the need for more premarital counseling.

—Deborah Schupack, "Starter' Marriages: So Early, So Brief," The New York Times, July 7, 1994