housewife
Americannoun
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Sometimes Offensive. a married woman who manages her own household, especially as her principal occupation.
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British. a sewing box; a small case or box for needles, thread, etc.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a woman, typically a married woman, who keeps house, usually without having paid employment
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Also called: hussy. huswife. a small sewing kit issued to soldiers
Sensitive Note
Most people, married or unmarried, find the term housewife perfectly acceptable. But it is sometimes perceived as insulting, perhaps because it implies a lowly status (“She’s just a housewife”) or because it defines an occupation in terms of a woman's relation to a man. Homemaker is a fairly common substitute.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of housewife
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English hus(e)wif; see origin at house, wife
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.
Even before her husband’s death and her takeover as CEO of TPUSA, she was a highly-educated career woman only playing at being the demure housewife for his audiences.
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026
When Todd Haynes made his 1995 masterpiece “Safe”—which cast Julianne Moore as a Los Angeles housewife under siege by myriad illnesses—environmental disease was an enigma.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
But for Fatima, a 36-year-old German housewife travelling with her family, "there was no second thought" about coming to Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
"We have almost nothing left, it's impossible to even find an egg," Sheyla Caya, a 43-year-old housewife, said.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Before examining her, he flipped through her chart—a quick sketch of her life, and a litany of untreated conditions: Sixth or seventh grade education; housewife and mother of five.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
