Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A woman who is an actor.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A female actor or performer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A female actor or doer.
  • noun A female stageplayer; a woman who acts a part.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a female actor

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From actor +‎ -ess.

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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 2011

  • 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.

    Evening Standard - Home Brian Sewell 2011

  • 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.

    Evening Standard - Home Brian Sewell 2011

  • 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.

    AsianWeek 2009

  • Someone kind should probably try to stop me, but this actress is amazing:

    2008 March 2008

  • Scarlett Johansson "actress" is exactly that case.

    New Photos: Frank Miller’s The Spirit | /Film 2008

  • 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?"

    WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010

  • 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?"

    WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010

  • 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?"

    WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010

  • 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?"

    Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Editors 2010

Comments

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  • They are not actresses; that is how they really feel.

    - Peter Reading, C, 1984

    August 2, 2008

  • 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.

    January 8, 2012

  • 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?

    January 8, 2012