schoolmistress

American  

[skool-mis-tris] / ˈskulˌmɪs trɪs /

noun

1. a woman who presides over or teaches in a school.

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schoolmistress British  

/ ˈskuːlˌmɪstrɪs /

noun

1. a woman who teaches in or runs a school

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Gender

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

• schoolmistressy
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of schoolmistress

First recorded in 1490–1500; school ¹ + mistress

Example Sentences

Thadden, the former schoolmistress, had vouched for a newcomer named Paul Reckzeh who attended the party.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

Jane Krakowski's Miss Shields, ditching the stern but kind schoolmistress of the original in favor of a ditzy obsessive-compulsive with class control issues, left me scratching my head.

From New York Times • Dec. 18, 2017

A ruffled oversize 19th-century schoolmistress shirt in check with gray skirt was - daringly - twinned with pink and black tiger print stripper boots and space-age eye makeup.

From Washington Times • Mar. 9, 2016

This is provided by Mary Steenburgen’s schoolmistress, a fellow admirer of Jules Verne who likes the old boy’s piercing eyes but thinks he’s telling fibs.

From The Guardian • Oct. 21, 2015

The schoolmistress lay on the kitchen table, deep in sleep, and Xan kept both palms on the sides of the young woman’s face, concentrating hard.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill