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landlady

American  
[land-lay-dee] / ˈlændˌleɪ di /

noun

  • landladies
    plural
  1. a woman who owns and leases an apartment, house, land, etc., to others.

  2. a woman who owns or runs an inn, rooming house, or boardinghouse.


landlady British  
/ ˈlændˌleɪdɪ /

noun

  1. a woman who owns and leases property

  2. a landlord's wife

  3. a woman who owns or runs a lodging house, pub, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of landlady

First recorded in 1530–40; land + lady


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:

“We now live in a large duplex with our landlady and her daughter,” Maggie tells me.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Also, this was no time to be a picky landlady.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

June asks the landlady, who answers, “Kid who lived here got drafted.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

"I couldn't fit anyone else in that night," landlady Charlotte Ratcliffe recalls.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

My landlady lit the fire and brought a pitcher of drinking water for my night stand.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

"It's not just people in the music industry, this was also happening to barmaids, pub landladies and people's mums," she said.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

The demonstration was organised by two landladies in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, and was attended by people of all ages.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2021

It’s oozing with the sort of ingredients that cause a sugar rush of emotional associations: Paris, Provence, charming book stores, eccentric landladies, lost loves, even cats.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2015

The landladies run their fingers along the tops of wardrobes, tutting, while the men argue about their Visit Britain accreditation, mouths full of tepid bacon.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2010

Of course, one never can tell what life will bring forth, but it seems to me that my present landlady marks the top of my career as a connoisseur, an amateur, of landladies.

From Turns about Town by Robert Cortes Holliday

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