adventuress

[ad-ven-cher-is]

noun

1. a woman who schemes to win social position, wealth, etc., by unscrupulous or questionable means.

2. a woman who is an adventurer.

adventuress

/ ədˈvɛntʃərɪs /

noun

1. a woman who seeks adventure, esp one who seeks success or money through daring exploits

2. a woman who seeks money or power by unscrupulous means

3. a speculator

Gender Note

What's the difference between adventuress and adventurer? See -ess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of adventuress¹

First recorded in 1745–55; adventur(er) + -ess

Example Sentences

In their ninth crime-solving tale, the Victorian-era adventuress and butterfly hunter Veronica Speedwell and her partner discover that a wax mannequin is actually a dead young woman, expertly preserved.

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"From the outset, Camilla was suspicious about the adventuress from Los Angeles," he claimed to the outlet.

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Eve Babitz was in her teens when she declared to her mother, “I think I’m going to be an adventuress.”

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But, paradoxically, the seasoned adventuress feared becoming lost in the metropolis and got her bearings by imagining skyscrapers as summits along a trail.

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For Nick’s mother, it’s a fortress built to repel alien invaders like Rachel, who, in Eleanor’s eyes, is a Chinese-American adventuress and insufficiently Chinese.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal