colleen
noun
an Irish girl.
colleen
1 American
[kol-een, ko-leen]
/ ˈkɒl in, kɒˈlin /
noun
Colleen
2
American
[kol-een, ko-leen]
/ ˈkɒl in, kɒˈlin /
noun
colleen
British
/ kɒˈliːn, ˈkɒliːn /
noun
-
an Irish word for girl
-
an Irish girl
Etymology
Origin of colleen
1820–30; < Irish cailín, equivalent to caile girl, wench + -ín diminutive suffix
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:
Wilmington described O’Hara as “Hollywood’s ultimate fiery colleen, she has a classic chiseled Irish beauty and a thinly strapped temper that erupted smashingly into scathing tantrums or round-house rights.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2015
And the neighbours all pity the colleen so pretty,
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2015
The Hitch The inhabitants of a neighboring barren, windswept Irish island want parts in it, including the play’s misshapen title character and a sociopathic colleen named Slippy Helen.
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2014
Upon any Irishman caught sporting with a colleen thus dressed, Senator Moore proposed to visit drastic punishment.
From Time Magazine Archive
Indeed there was little of the grand style about the colleen.
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. II (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield
"Verity," Amazon MGM's psychological thriller based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, dropped from first to second place at $11.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Of all the tawdry delights in “Verity” — Michael Showalter’s adaptation of bestselling author Colleen Hoover’s massively popular psychological thriller — the best and most unexpected is how well the film hides its secrets.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
Sonos CMO Colleen DeCourcy is surrounding herself with creative “player-coaches” and opening a “creative cultural space” in New York as she strives to move the brand past memories of its botched app update.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Pike's victim was Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old originally from Florida who loved to roller skate, smile and help others, according to descriptions given by her friends and family.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Colleen is young, maybe in her thirties, and really nice.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
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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.
