actress
Americannoun
noun
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a woman who acts in a play, film, broadcast, etc
-
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.
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.
It was like gay sports, particularly with the best actress and best supporting actress races.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026
“Fifty Shades of Grey” actress Dakota Johnson’s “extraordinary” midcentury modern Los Angeles retreat is already under offer—mere days after the on-screen star put the property on the market for $6 million.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
The singer and actress, 32, first met Slater, 34, in 2023 while they were shooting the two films in the UK.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
More recently, actress Olivia Munn documented her bilateral mastectomy on social media, following her diagnosis of Luminal B breast cancer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Somewhere along the line—in one damn incarnation or another, if you like—you not only had a hankering to be an actor or an actress but to be a good one.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
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.
