ma'am
Americannoun
Usage
Ma'am is used as a title of respect, especially when addressing female royalty
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ma'am
First recorded in 1660–70; by contraction
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:
Get out there and get on with your day, ma’am or sir!
From Slate ● Jul. 26, 2025
A man with a tattoo that swirls across his face shouts, "Where you from, ma'am?"
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025
Cohen said: "No ma'am," adding that it was not enough work for him to send an invoice.
From Salon ● May 14, 2024
“OK, ma’am, if you feel unsafe, listen to yourself and evacuate,” the dispatcher replied.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
I fight the urge to say, Yes, ma’am, as if I’m getting orders from Ma.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
He brings out her worst self and yes ma’ams her most divalicious impulses.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2013
Griffin — a military brat raised to use yes sirs and yes ma’ams in his speech and to live a life of discipline and character — continued his truth campaign by proclaiming two more facts.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2012
Every other professor was happy with their yes, sirs and no, ma’ams, but Green had never been impressed with me.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
“Please, ma’am,” said Alyce, who had learned that ma’ams and sirs served her well even with cooks and stableboys when asking favors.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
Old Mizzou mentally added another exception to his sweeping rule about "grass widders and school ma'ams."
From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White
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.
