actress
Americannoun
noun
-
a woman who acts in a play, film, broadcast, etc
-
informal a woman who puts on a false manner in order to deceive others
Usage
Use of the word actress to refer to a female who acts is old-fashioned. The modern gender-neutral form is actor
Gender
What's the difference between actress and actor? See -ess.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of actress
Vocabulary lists containing actress
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:
A prominent actress and survivor of child sexual abuse has criticised disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards for competing at this year's National Eisteddfod, claiming that, had he won, it would have been "catastrophic".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The actress, the youngest of six, grew up with a speedboat-racing father and a psychologist mother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Category: Guest actress in a drama series Résumé: 53 credits since 1997, including “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Younger” and “American Fiction”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Her star turn as Glinda in the film adaptation of "Wicked" earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
So I could move to America and become the most famous Persian actress alive.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Still, it’s a banquet for older actresses, who get to prove that, while minds and bodies are mortal, artistry doesn’t have an expiration date.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"I always sort of go back to classic actresses in the way that they could sort of toe a line between extreme femininity and just rock hard will and grit," she said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
Many actresses warrant other titles, and there should be spaces for those, too.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
The two actresses make for a smashing comic duo in this production of the Noël Coward play about two women eager to rekindle a romance with the same French lothario.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
I’m not lying when I say that Hollywood actresses would kill for my mother’s smile.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
