Mistress definition and meaning

Mistress definition: A married man’s mistress is a woman who is not his wife and with whom he is having a… | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples

Definition of ’mistress’

Word Frequency


mistress


(


m

ɪ

strɪs



)

Word forms:


mistresses


countable noun

A married man’s

mistress

is a woman who is not his wife and with whom he is having a sexual relationship.



[

old-fashioned

]


Tracy was his mistress for three years.

Synonyms:


lover

,

girlfriend

,


concubine



[

old-fashioned

]

,

kept woman


More Synonyms of

mistress


COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary

. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency


mistress


in American English


(


ˈmɪstrɪs



)


noun


1.

a woman who

rules

others or has control, authority, or

power

over something


; specif.,


a.

a woman who is head of a household or

institution


b.


Chiefly


British


2.

a woman very skilled and

able

in some work,

profession

,

science

,

art

, etc.


3.


[sometimes

M-

]

something

personified

as a woman that has control, power, etc.


England was

mistress

of the seas


4.


a.

a woman who is in a sexual relationship with, and typically is financially

supported

by, a man without being married to him


b.

a woman who is in an

adulterous

relationship with a man married to another woman


5.


Archaic


6.


[

M-

]



;

Obsolete

a

title

used in

speaking

to or of a woman and placed before the name



,

now replaced by

Mrs., Miss

, or

Ms.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin

ME

maistresse

< OFr, fem. of

maistre,


master

Word Frequency


mistress


in American English


(


ˈmɪstrɪs


)


noun


1.

a woman who has authority, control, or power, esp. the female head of a household,
institution, or other

establishment


2.

a woman

employing

, or in authority over,

servants

or

attendants


3.

a female

owner

of an animal, or

formerly

, a

slave


4.

a woman who has the power of controlling or

disposing

of something at her own

pleasure
mistress of a great fortune


5.



(

sometimes cap

)

something

regarded

as

feminine

that has control or

supremacy
Great Britain, the mistress of the seas


6.

a women who is skilled in something, as an

occupation

or art


7.

a woman who has a continuing, extramarital sexual relationship with one man, esp.
a man who, in

return

for an

exclusive

and continuing

liaison

,

provides

her with

financial

support


8.


Brit

a female schoolteacher;

schoolmistress


9.



(

cap

)


10.


archaic

sweetheart
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms


mistressed


adjective


mistress-ship


noun

Word origin


[

1275–1325; ME

maistresse

‹ MF, OF, equiv. to

maistre


master

+

-esse


-ess


]

Word Frequency


mistress


in British English


(


ˈmɪstrɪs



)


noun


1.


2.

a woman or

female


personification

having control over something

specified
she was mistress of her own destiny


3.


4.


mainly British


short for


schoolmistress


5.


an archaic or dialect word for


sweetheart


Collins English Dictionary

. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin

C14: from Old French; see

master

,

-ess

Word Frequency


Mistress


in British English


(


ˈmɪstrɪs



)


noun


an archaic or dialect title equivalent to


Mrs


Collins English Dictionary

. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Examples of ‘mistress’ in a sentence

mistress


Read more…


In the

fashionable


portraits

of the

age


artists

took particular pleasure in emphasising the

contrast

with the white

skin

of the

master

or mistress.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2016

)


The

book

is

written

from the points of

view

of the mistress and the wife.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2007

)


What was the

day


like

for the mistress of the household?


Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor)


Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginning
to 1715



(

1995

)


There is no

positive


evidence

for the

existence

of a

royal

mistress or mistresses.


The Times Literary Supplement



(

2010

)


What

will


happen

to our

masters

and mistresses of the

universe

?


Times, Sunday Times



(

2014

)


He had a

reputation

for

taking

a

new

mistress more frequently than he took a

bath

.


Paula Byrne


PERDITA: The Life of Mary Robinson



(

2004

)


To

save

herself from

worse

she becomes the mistress of the

judge

.


The Times Literary Supplement



(

2014

)


Who

better

to

help

him out than his former mistress?


Times, Sunday Times



(

2012

)



Fifteen

royal mistresses and female servants

joined

her in the

flames

.


Jonathan Gregson


BLOOD AGAINST THE SNOWS: The Tragic Story of Nepal&apos;s Royal Dynasty



(

2002

)


Master and mistress say

thou

to their servants the

superior

to the

inferior

.


Hans Christian Andersen


Andersen’s Fairy Tales



(

1874

)

Show more…


What was this

bond

between a

rich

mistress and a servant so

devoted

that he

ends

up

blinding

himself for her?


Times, Sunday Times



(

2009

)


She’s my wife and my mistress.


The Sun



(

2006

)


Indeed, she was very much

pleased

with her new little mistress and liked her place greatly.


Frances Hodgson Burnett


A Little Princess



(

1905

)


A

wardrobe

mistress

arrives

with my

armour

.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2013

)


She was the wardrobe mistress.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2007

)


I

kept

my

eyes

on the mistress of the

house

, and

studied

her a

bit

.


Katie Hickman


COURTESANS



(

2003

)


Our

deputy

head mistress, usually very

strict

,

allowed

herself just a

flicker

of a

smile

.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2015

)


The other woman is the

dead

man ‘s mistress, married and

voracious

.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2008

)


It

looks

like a

Russian

mistress’s house.


Times, Sunday Times



(

2013

)

Trends of

mistress

View usage over:

In other languages

mistress


British English

:


mistress


ˈmɪstrɪs

/

NOUN

A married man’s

mistress

is a woman he is having a romantic relationship with, but who is not his wife.
She was his mistress for three years.


American English

:


mistress


ˈmɪstrɪs

/


Arabic

:

خَلِيلَةٌ


Brazilian Portuguese

:

amante


Chinese

:

情妇


Croatian

:

ljubavnica


Czech

:

milenka


Danish

:

elskerinde


Dutch

:

maîtresse


European Spanish

:


dueña


Finnish

:

rakastajatar


French

:

maîtresse


German

:


Geliebte


Greek

:

ερωμένη


Italian

:


amante


Japanese

:

女性の愛人


Korean

:



Norwegian

:

elskerinne


Polish

:

pani


European Portuguese

:


amante


Romanian

:

amantă


Russian

:

любовница


Spanish

:


dueña


Swedish

:

älskarinna


Thai

:

อนุภรรยา


Turkish

:

metres


Ukrainian

:

коханка


Vietnamese

:

tình nhân


Translate your text for free

Nearby words of

mistress

Related terms of

mistress

Source

Definition of

mistress

from the

Collins English Dictionary

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Question:

1

Score:


0

/

5


attend court


or


reach court

?

Which version is correct?


consume energy


or


muster the energy

?

Which version is correct?


environmental damage


or


nerve damage

?

Which version is correct?


deny treatment


or


improve treatments

?

Which version is correct?


annual loss


or


sad loss

?

Drag the correct answer into the box.
sad loss
annual loss


He is a very


to journalism and the book world.


Your score:

May 01, 2021

Word of the day
Thalia
the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry


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Scrabble score
for ‘mistress’:


10

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