actress
Americannoun
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actresses
plural
noun
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a woman who acts in a play, film, broadcast, etc
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informal a woman who puts on a false manner in order to deceive others
Usage
Use of the word actress to refer to a female who acts is old-fashioned. The modern gender-neutral form is actor
Gender
What's the difference between actress and actor? See -ess.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of actress
Vocabulary lists containing actress
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:
Kazan doesn’t sacrifice much of the character’s darkness, but rather enables Pugh, an actress who ably navigates purity and corruption, to play with both closer to the surface than usual.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
The technology was meant to transform "Fifty Shades of Grey" actress Dakota Johnson into the elderly version of Monroe.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Even as he was on trial, Flynn was secretly living with an 18-year-old actress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Welsh actress and creator of Gavin and Stacey, Ruth Jones, portrays the "iconic" Mrs Bennet, with Richard E. Grant playing her husband, Mr Bennet.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
I had seen enough old movies to know Ethel Waters was an old-time actress in the black-and-white pictures.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Phillips went on to become one of Britain's most acclaimed actresses, appearing in productions including Doctor Who, Calendar Girls, Dune, and I, Claudius.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
His nuanced supporting work allowed some of the greatest actresses of their moment attain their first fireworks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Originally from Croydon, Burley revealed he found The Darling Buds of May easier to write than to cast, with the role of Mariette proving especially hard as "lots of young actresses just didn't excite us".
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
"I always sort of go back to classic actresses in the way that they could sort of toe a line between extreme femininity and just rock hard will and grit," she said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
I definitely fit the description of the ugly duckling in makeover movies, except that those girls were actually gorgeous actresses disguised by poorly framed glasses.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
