housewife
Americannoun
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housewives
plural
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
To wit: Sexton received 3,000 emails from a Kansas housewife obsessed with clearing the name of Dana Chandler, who had been convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his girlfriend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
But housewife Nelly Vega believes Fujimori "is going to lead us to something better."
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
"The loss of the leader is heavier than losing our parents," Hoda, a 35-year-old housewife, told AFP news agency.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
In 1899 Kate Chopin’s novel “The Awakening,” about a mutineering New Orleans housewife, challenged conventions of marriage and motherhood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
His mother is a housewife who will eventually go back to college and earn a bachelor’s degree in education.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
“But I think my being in grief triggered the housewives, and it triggered the audience.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
German defence giant Rheinmetall on Sunday sought to smooth over a row caused by comments from its boss comparing Ukrainian factories producing drones to "housewives" making weapons in their kitchens.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In nonprofit has shed about a quarter of its staff as the founder focuses the feminist organization on pushing back against the “tradwife” and manosphere movements that prioritize women’s roles as housewives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
This focus on women's economic role has also shaped politics: in 2021, Tamil actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan promised "salaries for housewives".
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025
But the vacuum cleaner did it faster and better, and soon Mrs. Jones was the envy of all the other housewives in town—so they bought vacuum cleaners, too.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
