stewardess
Americannoun
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a woman flight attendant.
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a woman who attends to the comfort of passengers on a ship, train, or bus.
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Etymology
Origin of stewardess
1625–35 for earlier sense “female steward”; 1930–35 stewardess for def. 1; steward + -ess
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.
She took to the stage dressed as a stewardess, dancing across luggage carousels and navigating male dancers dressed as baggage handlers.
From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026
On an airplane, recently, she noticed that when the stewardess came around offering coffee and tea, a surprising number of adults opted for hot chocolate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
David Zucker: My favorite has always been when the stewardess says, "I've never been so scared, and besides, I am 26 and I'm not married."
From Salon • Oct. 3, 2023
The glam quotient is highest in “All With a Soft Touch,” dominated by an angelic stewardess in a serenely pale airplane where, it seems, the passengers are Black.
From New York Times • Feb. 16, 2023
It's only when the stewardess announces that we're about to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport that I put the book away.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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.
