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.
See Examples For:
"I have no words," Maria Caridad Alvarez, a 62-year-old housewife, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
"The loss of the leader is heavier than losing our parents," Hoda, a 35-year-old housewife, told AFP news agency.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
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
In this brief, eerie novel by the Indian writer Anita Desai, the daughter of an unhappy Indian housewife learns that her mother had once dreamed of becoming a painter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“Brother Fowles, I have no earthly notion. I am a housewife from Georgia.”
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Tradwife content whitewashes history, but an honest look shows that contempt for housewives was a widespread theme in the past.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2026
German defence giant Rheinmetall on Sunday sought to smooth over a row caused by comments from its boss comparing Ukrainian factories producing drones to "housewives" making weapons in their kitchens.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
“The Golden Life” will no longer feature Zarin among its cast of housewives, series producer Blink49 Studios announced in a statement on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
Credited with helping to ignite second-wave feminism in the 1960s, the book claimed that many middle-class, college-educated women were dissatisfied being confined to their roles as housewives and mothers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
Hollingsworth billed it as an overall guide to helping modern young housewives create a peaceful, optimistic, and sanitary household.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
