Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A woman who is an actor. See Usage Note at -ess.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A female actor or performer.
Wiktionary
- n. A female doer or "actor" (in a general sense). [from 16th c.]
- n. A female actor on the stage or in films. [from 17th c.]
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A female actor or doer.
- n. A female stageplayer; a woman who acts a part.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a female actor
Examples
“The show is looking for a name actress to recur as Hank's med school nemesis.”
Mega Buzz: NCIS' Mole Hunt, Housewives' Guilt Trip and Booth's Family Past
“The First Actresses, National Portrait Gallery - review The catalogue of the new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery opens with a dejected little enquiry into the origin of the term "actress", as though the author, Gill Perry, has some objection to the distinction in terms of gender between the male and female trouper.”
“She replaced the original actress slated for the title actress role in the 1960 movie and gained worldwide fame and infamy; an Asian American woman as a pioneering lead actress in a Hollywood movie in a role that reinforced biased Western perceptions of their sexuality.”
“Someone kind should probably try to stop me, but this actress is amazing:”
“Scarlett Johansson "actress" is exactly that case.”
“Surprised by Chelsea Handler's graphic rant about Angelina Jolie, in which she called the actress a "f**cking b**ch," and a "f**king c*nt?”
The Huffington Post: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant (VIDEO)
“And, no, I'm not rooting for Melissa Leo just because she's been around and paid her dues and isn't it great that a non-glamorous real actress is getting the recognition she deserves.”
“The young actress is in final negotiations to join "Zombieland" alongside Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Jesse Eisenberg.”
“The most intriguing thing about the movie for me was trying to figure out if the lead actress is the same one who worked on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”
“This time, the buxom actress is making the headlines for her latest charity contribution -- one that's caused controversy in Indonesia.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘actress’.
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-ess
words with the suffix -ess
goddess, giantess, enchantress, doctress, archeress, auditress, avengeress, buildress, butleress, captainess, cateress, championess and 106 more...
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occupations
actor, actress, archaelogist, soldier, cook, lawyer, gardener, grocr, bank official, barman, barmaid, baber and 50 more...
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Job names
accountant, salesman, actor, galley slave, actress, captain, lumberjack, janitor, judge, policeman, reporter, anchor and 7 more...
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Unwording
Outlawed words and books, like this.
samizdat, satanic verses, profanity, oriental, antilanguage, biddy, aviatrix, squaw, deaf-mute, border patrolman, cassandra, niggardly and 45 more...
gangerh Hmmm. Interesting, ptero'. I do know several girls who refer to themselves as actors.
And, it occurs to me . . . is it true that it's very important to the French that their table can only be feminine? Which again, obviously, is actually quite relevant to her character, n'est ce pas? Jan 8, 2012
pterodactyl Why do we still use the word actress when most -ess words (e.g. stewardess, authoress, shepherdess, waitress) are considered improper or quaint? My guess is that it's because the sex of a steward, author, shepherd, or waiter is irrelevant, but an actor's sex actually matters, because it determines which roles he or she will be hired to play.
The same explanation also works for goddess. In religious studies and mythology, the fact that a goddess is female is actually quite relevant to her character, so it's not sexist to draw attention to the fact.
That's my theory, anyway. I could be wrong. Jan 8, 2012
yarb They are not actresses; that is how they really feel.
- Peter Reading, C, 1984 Aug 2, 2008