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landlady

American  
[land-ley-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:

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

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 8, 2026

Ms. McDonagh also writes about Elizabeth Anscombe, who was one of the 20th century’s major philosophers, and also a student, friend and landlady of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 3, 2026

Callard will be well known to TV show viewers as pub landlady Liz McDonnell on ITV's Coronation Street.

From BBC Jan. 14, 2026

Ms. Ypi tells us that the two had been close enough for her grandfather to once offer to settle the penniless Hoxha’s debts with his Parisian landlady.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 30, 2025

The landlady, a woman of around forty or so, appears to regard me as a rather grand visitor on account of Mr Farraday's Ford and the high quality of my suit.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

"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

Even picture postcards, Igo relates in one of many humorous and eye-opening vignettes, came under fire for enabling, one magazine’s editors wrote, “servants and landladies to have the full benefit of our private matters.”

From Washington Post Jun. 8, 2018

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

Perhaps there was something from Miss Blossom, who sometimes showed that she had not forgotten her little landladies.

From Dandelion Cottage by Carroll Watson Rankin

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