hostess

American  

[hoh-stis] / ˈhoʊ stɪs /

noun

hostesses plural

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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Gender

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hostess-ship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hostesses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hostess

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hostess hostesses

Nell’s plan to shuttle Gabby off to another local hostess is foiled, and all three women find themselves cohabitating uneasily, even as Gabby and Orla strike up a friendly intimacy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

The hostess working the front desk at the bar compliments my hair, which, to be honest, is in desperate need of a cut.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

Later, at a post-match reception at the home of a wealthy local white family, the team lined up to meet the hostess.

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

The 72-year-old said he had been hugely surprised to have his directorial debut, which stars his daughter Ella Bleu as an air hostess, accepted at the world's most prestigious film festival.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

I lingered some minutes, being unaccustomed to retiring from a chamber without permission or direction; but our hostess having disappeared, I passed above-stairs to see what strife had occasioned such an outburst.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Speak to enough hosts and hostesses, and you soon learn how the best often share a thoughtfulness for detail.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

Thompson pursued a counternarrative, describing the spectacle of nightclub hostesses bringing out bottles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025

These nightclubs were frequented by activists, diplomats, politicians, air hostesses and young people.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2023

It was a trajectory not unlike that of Gigi, the titular heroine of her 1944 novella, who climbs through Paris’s social strata, from a world of courtesans to that of society hostesses.

From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2023

We sat at the table yawning in front of our hostesses, who were cleaning up after the party.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall