hostess

[hoh-stis]

noun

1. a woman who receives and entertains guests in her own home or elsewhere.

2. a woman employed in a restaurant or place of amusement to receive, seat, or assist patrons.

3. a woman who acts as master of ceremonies, moderator, or interviewer for a television or radio program; host.

4. a woman employed by an airline, railroad, bus company, etc., to see that passengers are comfortable throughout a trip, usually receiving and seating them, and sometimes serving them refreshments.

5. a woman who manages a resort or hotel or who directs its social activities.

6. taxi dancer.

verb (used with object)

1. to be the hostess at (a reception, dinner, etc.).

   She will hostess a shower for the new bride.

2. to act as hostess at, to, or for.

   She volunteered to hostess the garden club next season.

verb (used without object)

1. to perform the duties or functions of a hostess.

hostess

/ ˈhəʊstɪs /

noun

1. a woman acting as host

2. a woman who receives and entertains patrons of a club, restaurant, etc

3. See air hostess

Gender Note

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

• hostess-ship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hostess¹

1250–1300; Middle English ( h ) ostesse < Old French. See host ¹, -ess

Example Sentences

Everyone was too surprised to speak except Lady Constance, who was adamant about performing her duties as a hostess, despite the fact that she was swinging from a chandelier and had only recently stopped screaming.

Read more on Literature

But at age 47, Pelosi had never held public office — she was too busy raising five kids, on top of all that political moving and shaking — and opponents made light of role as hostess.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Why don’t you rest for a few minutes in the hostess’s bedroom?”

Read more on Literature

“I remember going to one party with a lot of CEOs and big, big, big business guys and, the hostess was serving a butternut squash soup,” Stewart recounted.

Read more on Salon

The new tension is there in just a few whispers, as when Hedda overhears a guest murmur that their hostess is “duskier than I thought she would be.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times