Standard Lemma guide

dictatress

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A female dictator; a dictatorial state personified as female.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1821, John Quincy Adams, address delivered on 4 July, 1821, cited in Antony Jay (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 4, America [...] well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own [...] she would involve herself beyond the power of extraction, in all the wars of interest and intrigue [...] which assume the colours and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force [...] She might become dictatress of the world.
  • 1980, William L. Andrews, The Literary Career of Charles W. Chesnutt, cited in Thomas Votteler (ed.), Short Story Criticism, Farmington Hills, MI: Cengage Gale, Volume 7, 1991, p. 29, Wellington’s first wife does not belong among the overstuffed dictatresses of the white folks’ kitchen.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dictatrix

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From dictator + -ess.