geisha
Americannoun
-
geisha,
plural
-
geishas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of geisha
1890–95; < Japanese, equivalent to gei arts (< Chinese ) + -sha person (< Chin)
Vocabulary lists containing geisha
Japanese History - Middle School and High School
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Japanese History - Introductory
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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:
Locals have complained of disrespectful tourists harassing the geisha in a frenzy for photos, as well as causing traffic congestion and littering.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
At a hot-springs resort in the snowiest mountains of Japan, a wealthy and bored man named Shimamura becomes involved with Komako, a geisha.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Hemingway “swearing they’d been served by geisha girls,” according to Gellhorn.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
In one piece, called “#WTF,” a geisha takes a selfie as a palm tree burns in the background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
From the back of a yellow house, two girls emerge, playing geisha.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
In the popular imagination geishas are often confused with courtesans but their work as trained masters of refined old artforms does not involve selling sex.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Osaka was second and Kyoto, with its narrow streets, geishas and towering temples, was third, with around 12 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
In addition to his real estate business, Miyamoto also runs an entertainment-related business involving maikos, or apprentice geishas.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2023
But ninjas and geishas programmed with narrative loops similar to their gun-slinging counterparts wasn’t the only highlight of the Japanese theme park.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2018
Now three geishas, representing Beauty, Death, and the Vampire, begin a dance.
From A Second Book of Operas by Krehbiel, Henry Edward
Definitions 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.
