damsel
Americannoun
-
damsels
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of damsel
1150–1200; Middle English damisel < Anglo-French ( Old French damoisele ) < Vulgar Latin *dominicella, equivalent to Latin domin ( a ) lady ( see dame) + -i- -i- + -cella feminine diminutive suffix
Explanation
A young, unmarried woman is a damsel. If you've ever seen a young girl being chased by a rabid dog, then you've witnessed a damsel in distress! The word damsel is a shortened version of the French word, mademoiselle, which is what the French call a young woman who is not married — like the word miss in English. Damsel was originally a word reserved for noblewomen — the rich and fabulous. Nowadays even regular unmarried Janes can be referred to as damsel, though you're really most likely to come across the word damsel being rescued by a prince in a fairytale.
Vocabulary lists containing damsel
Holding Up the Universe
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"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
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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:
Though set in Ghost Town with period garb, there are modern flourishes, such as tongue-in-cheek nods to the theme park’s attractions and a damsel in distress who ultimately proves to be anything but.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
Dunst, 41, says it is refreshing her character is the lead in an action film and not a "damsel in distress".
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2024
Working from Andrew Lobel’s script, the director Michael Mohan delivers his damsel — a fresh-faced American, Cecilia, played by Sydney Sweeney — to the convent with unceremonious briskness.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
But also, it has a lot of humor surrounding it, because it's that damsel in distress kind of character.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2023
The offspring thus produced from the conjunction of deity and damsel hath a nature intermixed, the two species commingled, and perhaps, like the mule, is incapable itself of generation.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
So, Ichikawa played beautiful damsels, as well as witches, samurai and even animals throughout his career.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
One of the ovals’ long-tressed damsels is encountering a rearing leopard, and the other seems unfazed by a yellow serpent.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2023
"I got myself into action films because I didn't believe that women were damsels in distress. Their stories need to be told correctly," Yeoh says.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2023
The moniker "scream queen" emerged first as a label for damsels in distress.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2022
In Gran’s stories, damsels in distress were always trapped in towers.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
