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comfort woman

American  
[kuhm-fert woom-uhn] / ˈkʌm fərt ˌwʊm ən /

noun

  1. a girl or woman forced into prostitution by Japanese soldiers during World War II.


Etymology

Origin of comfort woman

First recorded in 1960–65

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:

It was only in 1991 that the first former South Korean comfort woman first came forward in Seoul, setting off a swell of public testimony.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 16, 2024

The deal is also controversial because of suggestions by Japanese officials that South Korea has agreed to remove a statue of a young girl outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul that represents a comfort woman.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 28, 2016

In it, Maria Rosa Henson tells the story of her life in the Philippines and her internment as a comfort woman.

From Salon Jan. 17, 2016

The South Korean government agreed to explore whether the civic group that placed a bronze statue of a comfort woman that sits outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul would remove it.

From Washington Post Jan. 9, 2016

Lee Yong Soo, a Korean and a former comfort woman, says, “If I am ever born again, I hope to be born as a woman soldier.”

From New York Times Dec. 19, 2014

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