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.
The star appeared as an air stewardess, twirling her way through baggage reclaim while shrugging off a bevy of useless men – a surgeon, a priest, a magician, an astronaut.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 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
That’s where I’d want to go if I were a stewardess.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
