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
Above us swallows dart through the air, Graeme takes a picture of a damsel fly and the brook to our side continues to babble.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024
“There are tales of chivalry, where the heroic knight saves the damsel in distress,” a young woman’s voice intones as “Damsel” begins.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 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 damsel who caused the laughter was of middle height, slender, with blond, wavy hair cascading to her waist.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
None of my family are damsels in distress.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
In Act 2, they reprise the song, this time as the husbands of two of those damsels, Rapunzel and Cinderella.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 16, 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
That was something I always kept an eye on, I never wanted the girls to be over-sexualized, or victims, or damsels in distress.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2021
We would ride down villains who robbed stagecoaches or in other ways threatened damsels in distress, whom we could save and, of course, never kiss, but ride off at the end of our imagination.
From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen
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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.
