It's the legal relationship. It's what you put in when filling out a security clearance form.
You don't need to call them mumsie dearest or daddykins.

It’s just a word that describes the legal relationship. It doesn’t mean anything about the personal relationship. I would find it odd and intentionally diminishing to hear someone say “my spouse’s children.”

I'll go against the grain and say I don't consider my father's wife my "step" anything.

Anonymous wrote:My divorced friend who has two kids, (twins 24 who don’t live at home) who recently married a women referred to her two kids who don’t live at home at 24 and 26 as his step children.

WTF. There Dad is alive, they don’t live with them.

Shouldn’t there be another term?

I guess you can call them adult step children...
I knew my step kids since they were little kids. I believe the youngest one was 6 and the oldest 11 ish. Now the youngest one is 23.. They are still my step kids. We don't really use the term step kids or bonus kids or what ever just kids. If people ask for a follow up then yes. No disrespect to the mom, but my daughter hates the word HALF siblings so don't use if we don't need it.

This will piss you off, OP:

My husband has two adult children from his first marriage. I have younger children from my first marriage. Not only do I refer to his kids as “my stepsons”, but sometimes I refer to all of our children collectively (plus my stepson’s wife) as “our kids”.

For example: “This summer, we are renting a big house at the beach and all of our kids are coming with us.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"My wife's adult children" is the term. But I think step is fine.

This. Personally I never once referred to my mom’s husband as anything other than my mom’s husband but people are free to do what they want.

My husband is like this. He'll always say his mom's husband.

There are uses of "step" that wouldn't seem too weird. Something like "my kids are with their mom this Christmas, so I'll be with my step kids."

Anonymous wrote:"My wife's adult children" is the term. But I think step is fine.

This. Personally I never once referred to my mom’s husband as anything other than my mom’s husband but people are free to do what they want.

They are technically his step children.

Wait what? Of course they are stepchildren/parents, the age is irrelevant. My dad remarried when I was 27 and his wife is my stepmom, she is one of my kids grandparents (no step needed there.)

They are his stepchildren, so he can call them that.

"My wife's adult children" is the term. But I think step is fine.

Anonymous wrote:My divorced friend who has two kids, (twins 24 who don’t live at home) who recently married a women referred to her two kids who don’t live at home at 24 and 26 as his step children.

WTF. There Dad is alive, they don’t live with them.

Shouldn’t there be another term?

So you're old enough to have a friend with adult children, and yet you're ignorant enough and stupid enough to ask this question?
Do better, OP.

The legal relationship is step-parent/step-child, but it doesn't mean that you were raised by that person necessarily.

Both of my parents remarried late in life. My step-mother is literally 2 years older than me. She's still my step parent. We get along quite well. I get a kick out of the kids calling her grandma, actually.

Of course they're his step-children. The age does not matter, nor the fact they don't live together. It's just a way to describe the relationship. It does not imply a high degree of intimacy or affection necessarily, although it would be nice if they all got along, of course.

My divorced friend who has two kids, (twins 24 who don’t live at home) who recently married a women referred to her two kids who don’t live at home at 24 and 26 as his step children.

WTF. There Dad is alive, they don’t live with them.

Shouldn’t there be another term?