femme
Americannoun
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femmes
plural
adjective
noun
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a woman or wife
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a lesbian who adopts a feminine role in a relationship
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of femme
First recorded in 1930–35; from French: literally “woman”; see origin at feme
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:
Five years later, she portrayed femme fatale Eve Kendall, dangerously seducing Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's action thriller North by Northwest.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In Lowen’s overactive imagination, Hathaway plays a Hitchcockian femme fatale always wearing her signature color, red.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
They made off with a portrait titled "Madame Colonna Romano" and the depiction of a woman at a well called "Jeune femme au puits", his office said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
In her 2024 Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, Roan is surrounded by seven femme musicians, each wearing red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, a pink button-down or a red party dress.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
The femme fatale must be back, Veronica Lake slinks again.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Black trans femmes have been and currently are at the forefront of social liberation movements, while experiencing unique forms of targeted discrimination, oppression, and violence.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 14, 2024
And even fewer resemble the glamorous femmes fatales that populate TV and film melodramas about the narco world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
"When I look out to the audience and I see women or femmes connecting to it, I think maybe you know," Sawayama says.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2023
“Black trans women and femmes specifically are the most marginalized in our communities,” Patterson said.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
No English bookman holds the unique position of Jean Grolier, and 'les femmes bibliophiles' of England have been few and undistinguished compared with those of France.
From English Embroidered Bookbindings by Alfred W. (Alfred William) Pollard
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
