diseuse

American  

[dee-zœz] / diˈzœz /

noun

diseuses plural

1. a female professional entertainer who performs monologues.

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diseuse British  

/ dizœz /

noun

1. Male counterpart: diseur.  (esp formerly) an actress who presents dramatic recitals, usually sung accompanied by music

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• diseuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of diseuse

1895–1900; < French, feminine of diseur diseur; see -euse

Example Sentences

My closest confidants were two extraordinary women: Paula Laurence, Broadway star, diseuse and needle-sharp analyst of the passing scene; and Ann Rogers, Welles’s secretary for 30 years.

From The Guardian • Nov. 28, 2015

So coloratura soprano and contemporary music singer Alison Bell, slinky cabaret diseuse Meow Meow, and bel canto soprano Gabriela Istoc were the women fighting for the affections of Mark Padmore's brutally charismatic Macheath.

From The Guardian • Mar. 4, 2013

Ruth Draper has soundly insisted that she is no mere monologist or diseuse; she describes herself as a character actress.

From Time Magazine Archive

Like many a diseuse, Sarah Osnath-Halevy gained telling effects with a .shrug of a shoulder, a lift of an eye.

From Time Magazine Archive

Let us now see what the great diseuse thinks of dramas and dramatists.

From Our Stage and Its Critics By "E.F.S." of "The Westminster Gazette" by Spence, Edward Fordham