headmistress
Americannoun
-
headmistresses
plural
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of headmistress
Explanation
A headmistress is the female principal of a school, particularly a private school. You might need to ask the headmistress of your high school for a college recommendation. Private schools and prep schools often call the person in charge a headmaste if he's a man and a headmistress if she's a woman. It's more common to have a principal in the United States, especially in public schools. The word headmistress is commonly thought of as British, but it's increasingly likely that a British student will use the term head teacher instead, since it can refer to either a man or a woman.
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:
Student-made memes depict the administrator behind the proposal as Gandalf from “Lord of the Rings” saying “You shall not pass!” or as Dolores Umbridge, the tyrannical Hogwarts headmistress from “Harry Potter.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
This was to the fury of her former headmistress in Eastbourne, who had hoped she would apply to Cambridge and wrote to the theatre to tell them so.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025
Her late-onset acclaim as the loyal deputy headmistress charged with Gryffindor House in the much-hyped wizard franchise was to be expected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
Yeoh plays the headmistress at their school, and, the studio recently announced, Peter Dinklage will be Dr. Dillamond, a history professor and goat.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
Penelope certainly did not want to feel cross with Miss Mortimer, but she wished her headmistress had been a bit more forthcoming.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
For one thing, amapiano - a type of house music that emerged from South Africa's townships in the early 2010s - was a genre for young people, not for 65-year-old school headmistresses.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2020
Across Australia politicians, police, columnists, headmistresses, radio loudmouths, preachers and priests had united in declaring Roth’s 1969 scatological masterpiece Portnoy’s Complaint a danger to the morals of the nation.
From The Guardian ● May 26, 2018
I've been expelled from three and the headmistresses still swoon when they hear my name breathed.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 6, 2010
Encouraged by this move, one clothier last week invited headmistresses to a showing of remodeled uniforms, including gym slips with "a hint of fashion line."
From Time Magazine Archive
The headmasters and headmistresses around the walls seemed less impressed by Dumbledore’s decision; Harry saw a few of them shaking their heads and Phineas Nigellus actually snorted.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
