housewife
Americannoun
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Sometimes Offensive. a married woman who manages her own household, especially as her principal occupation.
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British. a sewing box; a small case or box for needles, thread, etc.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a woman, typically a married woman, who keeps house, usually without having paid employment
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Also called: hussy. huswife. a small sewing kit issued to soldiers
Sensitive Note
Most people, married or unmarried, find the term housewife perfectly acceptable. But it is sometimes perceived as insulting, perhaps because it implies a lowly status (“She’s just a housewife”) or because it defines an occupation in terms of a woman's relation to a man. Homemaker is a fairly common substitute.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of housewife
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English hus(e)wif; see origin at house, wife
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Todd Haynes made his 1995 masterpiece “Safe”—which cast Julianne Moore as a Los Angeles housewife under siege by myriad illnesses—environmental disease was an enigma.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
In this brief, eerie novel by the Indian writer Anita Desai, the daughter of an unhappy Indian housewife learns that her mother had once dreamed of becoming a painter.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
“In one, I go from a mousy housewife to a road warrior, and the other I go from a cookie-making mom to an assassin,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
"It's the people who pay the price for such involvement," a 40 year-old housewife from Hodeidah told AFP.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
She kept the religious traditions of a Jewish housewife and was loyal to her husband, but Tateh had absolutely no love for her.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
