Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A woman who is an actor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A female actor or performer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A female actor or doer.
- noun A female stageplayer; a woman who acts a part.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a female actor
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The show is looking for a name actress to recur as Hank's med school nemesis.
Mega Buzz: NCIS' Mole Hunt, Housewives' Guilt Trip and Booth's Family Past 2011
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The First Actresses, National Portrait Gallery - review The catalogue of the new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery opens with a dejected little enquiry into the origin of the term "actress", as though the author, Gill Perry, has some objection to the distinction in terms of gender between the male and female trouper.
Evening Standard - Home Brian Sewell 2011
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The First Actresses, National Portrait Gallery - review The catalogue of the new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery opens with a dejected little enquiry into the origin of the term "actress", as though the author, Gill Perry, has some objection to the distinction in terms of gender between the male and female trouper.
Evening Standard - Home Brian Sewell 2011
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She replaced the original actress slated for the title actress role in the 1960 movie and gained worldwide fame and infamy; an Asian American woman as a pioneering lead actress in a Hollywood movie in a role that reinforced biased Western perceptions of their sexuality.
AsianWeek 2009
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Someone kind should probably try to stop me, but this actress is amazing:
2008 March 2008
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Scarlett Johansson "actress" is exactly that case.
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Surprised by Chelsea Handler's graphic rant about Angelina Jolie, in which she called the actress a "f**cking b**ch," and a "f**king c*nt?"
WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010
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Surprised by Chelsea Handler's graphic rant about Angelina Jolie, in which she called the actress a "f**cking b**ch," and a "f**king c*nt?"
WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010
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Surprised by Chelsea Handler's graphic rant about Angelina Jolie, in which she called the actress a "f**cking b**ch," and a "f**king c*nt?"
WATCH: Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant Jordan Zakarin 2010
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Surprised by Chelsea Handler's graphic rant about Angelina Jolie, in which she called the actress a "f**cking b**ch," and a "f**king c*nt?"
Chelsea Handler Explains Explicit Angelina Jolie Rant (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Editors 2010
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Introducing Lily Phillips, the ‘Mattress Actress’ who had intercourse with 101 men in a day
Introducing Lily Phillips, the ‘Mattress Actress’ who had intercourse with 101 men in a day Zach 2024
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My name is Payton Preslee and I am an XXX mattress actress! I have been in the industry for just over one year and I love it!
IamA Adult Film Star Payton Preslee AMA! realPaytonPreslee 2025
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I don't like the term "mattress actress" because that implies.. well, acting! And we all know acting isn't reality. I do not 'act' out my scenes; all my porn is authentic, genuine & ethically produced.
Myrtle Faust ☮️ EXISTENCE = RESISTANCE (@myrtlemystic.bsky.social) 2025
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Introducing Lily Phillips, the ‘Mattress Actress’ who had intercourse with 101 men in a day
Introducing Lily Phillips, the ‘Mattress Actress’ who had intercourse with 101 men in a day Zach 2024
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Isnt that what 'mattress actresses' want? For you to watch their porn?
“Mattress Actress” The comments on this one 🙄 cherrybomb_777 2025
yarb commented on the word actress
They are not actresses; that is how they really feel.
- Peter Reading, C, 1984
August 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word actress
Why do we still use the word actress when most -ess words (e.g. stewardess, authoress, shepherdess, waitress) are considered improper or quaint? My guess is that it's because the sex of a steward, author, shepherd, or waiter is irrelevant, but an actor's sex actually matters, because it determines which roles he or she will be hired to play.
The same explanation also works for goddess. In religious studies and mythology, the fact that a goddess is female is actually quite relevant to her character, so it's not sexist to draw attention to the fact.
That's my theory, anyway. I could be wrong.
January 8, 2012
gangerh commented on the word actress
Hmmm. Interesting, ptero'. I do know several girls who refer to themselves as actors.
And, it occurs to me . . . is it true that it's very important to the French that their table can only be feminine? Which again, obviously, is actually quite relevant to her character, n'est ce pas?
January 8, 2012