stewardess
Americannoun
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stewardesses
plural
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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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
“But also, the stewardess is flying around so much that they are probably safe too.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Corinne Conley, now 96, co-starred as stewardess Janet, who helped Spencer land the aircraft.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 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
In 1958, when Mary Pat Laffey Inman became a stewardess — as they were then called — for Northwest Airlines, she was 20 years old and the clock was already ticking.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2024
She had the bag the stewardess had given her clutched in one hand.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
In 1963, eight stewardesses held a news conference in New York’s Commodore Hotel.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2022
Apart from captains and chief stewardesses, the majority of crew members arrive fresh each season, and are never seen again.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2020
“Catch Me If You Can” leans hard into ’60s chic, with an ensemble of Pan Am airline stewardesses and a variety-show orchestra on stage.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2019
"But it was feared that if one of the stewardesses didn't stay aboard, he may not let the passengers off in Denver."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2019
The pilot made everyone sit down, even the stewardesses.
From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis
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.
