seamstress
Americannoun
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Etymology
Origin of seamstress
First recorded in 1605–15; seamst(e)r + -ess
Explanation
A seamstress is a person whose job involves sewing clothing. You could be a seamstress if you hem your own pants, but most seamstresses work in factories sewing garments using sewing machines. Traditionally, a seamstress was a woman who sewed seams in clothes using a machine, or occasionally by hand. Seamstresses weren't considered as skilled as a dressmaker, who makes custom clothing, or a tailor, who alters clothes to fit a specific person. Each of these titles is a distinct job, but they are commonly used interchangeably. Some people use the newer, unisex term sewist instead of seamstress.
Vocabulary lists containing seamstress
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Prairie Lotus
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The Prince and the Dressmaker
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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.
The cost of making the face coverings, which includes materials as well as the seamstress’ labor, has come from personal donations.
From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2020
The origins of manufacturing here stretch back to the late 1800s, when a Dalton seamstress’ bedspreads morphed into mass production of carpets, and blue-collar work grew plentiful.
From Time • May 31, 2017
So every morning Dora sat on the school-bench studying diligently, and every afternoon on a little chair close to the seamstress' knee, sewing on a big shirt that made her very warm and uncomfortable.
From Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country by Spyri, Johanna
If Felicia had been left comfortably to her own devices at her previous "places" she quickly discovered that the Seeley household made rather an event of the seamstress' coming.
From Little Miss By-The-Day by Van Slyke, Lucille
The seamstress' small birdlike face, framed by the silk quilling of her old lady's bonnet, broke into a hundred cheerful wrinkles at the sight of Gabriella.
From Life and Gabriella The Story of a Woman's Courage by Glasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson
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.
