hussy

American  

[huhs-ee, huhz-ee] / ˈhʌs i, ˈhʌz i /

noun

plural

hussies

1. a brazen or immoral woman.

   Synonyms:

   slut, trollop

2. a mischievous, impudent, or ill-behaved girl.

   Synonyms:

   minx, baggage

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hussy British  

/ -zɪ, ˈhʌsɪ /

noun

1. a shameless or promiscuous woman

2. dialect a folder for needles, thread, etc

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Etymology

Origin of hussy

1520–30; earlier hussive housewife

Explanation

A hussy is a woman or girl who's disrespectful or immoral. Your old fashioned grandmother might call your brother's live-in girlfriend a hussy. The noun hussy is an insulting and somewhat antique way to refer to a woman whose actions don't line up with traditional ideas of being respectable. A sexually bold women is most likely to be called a hussy, especially if she's seen as "stealing" another woman's partner. Originally, hussy was a shortening of the Middle English husewif, "housewife." Through the 1500's, hussy came to mean "any woman or girl," and by the 1650's it meant "an improper woman or girl."

Example Sentences

Shameless Hussy Press was a shoestring operation in 1969 when the poet known as Alta began publishing books from her house on a hand-cranked offset printer.

From New York Times • May 17, 2024

"The economic recovery process continues to falter," said Sentix Managing Director Patrick Hussy.

From Reuters • Oct. 4, 2021

"When I first started as a lawyer, my boss in Wooster was this guy named Mike Hussy, who is an amazing attorney," Sellitti told me.

From Salon • Jul. 1, 2020

“It was stale, greasy, spicy, crunchy, saucy and just plain strange,” said Ms. Johnson, a 43-year-old director of operations at an advertising agency in Cincinnati and author of a blog called the Food Hussy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2017

Not a word, Hussy; do what I bid you, no reply, away.

From Love for Love: a Comedy by Congreve, William