ACTRESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does actress mean? 

• ACTRESS (noun)
  The noun ACTRESS has 1 sense:

1. a female actor

  Familiarity information: ACTRESS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACTRESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A female actor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("actress" is a kind of...):

actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian (a theatrical performer)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "actress"):

starlet (a young (film) actress who is publicized as a future star)

tragedienne (an actress who specializes in tragic roles)

leading lady (actress who plays the leading female role)

Instance hyponyms:

Eva Le Gallienne; Le Gallienne (United States actress (born in England) (1899-1991))

Loretta Young; Young (United States film and television actress (1913-2000))

Leigh; Vivien Leigh (English film actress (1913-1967))

Beatrice Lillie; Lady Peel; Lillie (British actress (born in Canada) (1898-1989))

Loren; Sofia Scicolone; Sophia Loren (Italian film actress (born in 1934))

Martin; Mary Martin (United States actress (1913-1990))

Anna Amalia Mercouri; Melina Mercouri; Mercouri (Greek film actress (1925-1994))

Marilyn Monroe; Monroe; Norma Jean Baker (United States film actress noted for sex appeal (1926-1962))

Alla Nazimova; Nazimova (United States actress (born in Russia) (1879-1945))

Gladys Smith; Mary Pickford; Pickford (United States film actress (born in Canada) who starred in silent films (1893-1979))

Ginger Rogers; Rogers; Virginia Katherine McMath; Virginia McMath (United States dancer and film actress who partnered with Fred Astaire (1911-1995))

Moira Shearer; Shearer (Scottish ballet dancer and actress (born in 1926))

Sarah Kemble Siddons; Sarah Siddons; Siddons (English actress noted for her performances in Shakespearean roles (1755-1831))

Cornelia Otis Skinner; Skinner (United States actress noted for her one-woman shows (1901-1979))

Meryl Streep; Streep (United States film actress (born in 1949))

Barbra Joan Streisand; Barbra Streisand; Streisand (United States singer and actress (born in 1942))

Gloria May Josephine Svensson; Gloria Swanson; Swanson (United States actress in many silent films (1899-1983))

Jessica Tandy; Tandy (United States actress (born in England) who made many stage appearances, often with her husband Hume Cronyn (1909-1994))

Elizabeth Taylor; Taylor (United States film actress (born in England) who was a childhood star; as an adult she often co-starred with Richard Burton (born in 1932))

Dame Alice Ellen Terry; Dame Ellen Terry; Terry (English actress (1847-1928))

Dame Sybil Thorndike; Thorndike (English actress (1882-1976))

Ethel Waters; Waters (United States actress and singer (1896-1977))

Mae West; West (United States film actress (1892-1980))

Natalie Wood; Wood (United States film actress (1938-1981))

Fonda; Jane Fonda (United States film actress and daughter of Henry Fonda (born in 1937))

Ball; Lucille Ball (United States comedienne best known as the star of a popular television program (1911-1989))

Bankhead; Tallulah Bankhead (uninhibited United States actress (1903-1968))

Barrymore; Georgiana Barrymore; Georgiana Emma Barrymore (United States actress; daughter of John Drew and wife of Maurice Barrymore; mother of Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore (1854-1893))

Barrymore; Ethel Barrymore (United States actress; daughter of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore (1879-1959))

Bergman; Ingrid Bergman (Swedish film actress (1915-1982))

Bernhardt; Henriette Rosine Bernard; Sarah Bernhardt (French actress (1844-1923))

Black; Shirley Temple; Shirley Temple Black (popular child actress of the 1930's (born in 1928))

Cornell; Katherine Cornell (United States actress noted for her performances in Broadway plays (1893-1974))

Crawford; Joan Crawford (United States film actress (1908-1977))

Bette Davis; Davis (United States film actress (1908-1989))

Dietrich; Maria Magdalene von Losch; Marlene Dietrich (United States film actress (born in Germany) who made many films with Josef von Sternberg and later was a successful cabaret star (1901-1992))

Duse; Eleonora Duse (Italian actress best known for her performances in tragic roles (1858-1924))

Gertrude Lawrence; Lawrence (English actress (1898-1952))

Fontanne; Lynn Fontanne (United States actress (born in England) who married Alfred Lunt and performed with him in many plays (1887-1983))

Garbo; Greta Garbo; Greta Louisa Gustafsson (United States film actress (born in Sweden) known for her reclusiveness (1905-1990))

Garland; Judy Garland (United States singer and film actress (1922-1969))

Gish; Lillian Gish (United States film actress who appeared in films by D. W. Griffith (1896-1993))

Harlean Carpenter; Harlow; Jean Harlow (United States film actress who made several films with Clark Gable (1911-1937))

Hayes; Helen Hayes (acclaimed actress of stage and screen (1900-1993))

Hepburn; Katharine Hepburn; Katharine Houghton Hepburn (United States film actress who appeared in many films with Spencer Tracy (1907-2003))

Horne; Lena Calhoun Horne; Lena Horne (United States singer and actress (born in 1917))

Glenda Jackson; Jackson (English film actress who later became a member of British Parliament (born in 1936))

Grace Kelly; Grace Patricia Kelly; Kelly; Princess Grace of Monaco (United States film actress who retired when she married into the royal family of Monaco (1928-1982))

Emilie Charlotte le Breton; Jersey Lillie; Langtry; Lillie Langtry (British actress and mistress of the prince who later became Edward VII (1853-1929))

 Context examples 

Oh, you rude little boy, to say it in such a tone, said she; as if a play-actress wasn’t as good as any one else.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have seen good actresses fail in the part.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Each child watched videos that showed either an actress speaking directly to the viewer or scenes of children interacting in daycare.

(Children’s visual engagement is heritable and altered in autism, National Institutes of Health)

You are the best actress we've got, and there'll be an end of everything if you quit the boards, said Jo. We ought to rehearse tonight.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I was a precocious actress in her eyes; she sincerely looked on me as a compound of virulent passions, mean spirit, and dangerous duplicity.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But, you know, I have been trained as an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why on earth, then, should any criminal send her the proofs of his guilt, especially as, unless she is a most consummate actress, she understands quite as little of the matter as we do?

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It’s a play-actress,” said I.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Simplicity, indeed, is beyond the reach of almost every actress by profession.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I heard one of the young men tell another that he knew I'd been an actress, in fact, he thought he remembered seeing me at one of the minor theaters.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)