chanteuse
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chanteuse
Explanation
A chanteuse is a singer, especially a woman who performs in a nightclub. The femme fatale in an old black and white movie is often a chanteuse. While the chanteuse became a stock character in the film noir genre — a woman singing sultry songs in a smoky nightclub or cabaret — the word simply means "female singer" in French. It is derived from the verb chanter, "to sing." Edith Piaf is France's most famous chanteuse, a singer of popular songs who began her career in Parisian cabarets. You can use this word for contemporary singers too: "Taylor Swift is my favorite chanteuse."
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:
Billy Idol, chanteuse Sade, metal legends Iron Maiden and Manchester outfits Joy Division and New Order were also honored, along with hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and velvet-voiced crooner Luther Vandross.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Tilly Norwood, the AI-created aspiring actress, is pursuing a second career as a chanteuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
Premiering on Friday, this new documentary tells the story of Omara Portuondo, the legendary Afro-Cuban chanteuse who rose to international fame with the Buena Vista Social Club.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
A series of gorgeous surreal hallucinations include projected video flashbacks, descending carousel horses and black flamenco dancers emerging from shadows and furniture as Quichotte recalled Dulcinea, a nightclub chanteuse with a retro microphone.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
She’d chosen a strapless gold lame jumpsuit with a seaweed belt and had blown her long hair straight like a 1970s chanteuse.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Nearly a century before, Edgar Degas had painted inhabitants of his own demimonde: prostitutes, ballet dancers, jockeys, chanteuses.
From Economist ● Jul. 21, 2016
Tonight, on the red-carpet of the 58th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, the rappers, cowboys, and chanteuses let their freak-flags fly.
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2016
Musicians from hip-hop producers to folk chanteuses bow to her; a jazz big band in New York City exists to perform her repertoire.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 10, 2015
With her blond hair, black cocktail dress and red high-heeled shoes, Ms. Paige, 63, suggested a throwback to London music-hall chanteuses from the period just before London swung.
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2012
She was accompanied by Canadian and Australian chanteuses Melissa McClelland and Butterfly Boucher, respectively; Boucher also played bass guitar.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2011
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.
