dudess

Noun

dudess (plural dudesses)

1. (dated) A cowgirl.
   • Of course that taint, that reverence for rank and title, had been in our American blood, too—I know that; but when I left America it had disappeared—at least to all intents and purposes. The remnant of it was restricted to the dudes and dudesses. When a disease has worked its way down to that...1889, Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster and Company, →OCLC
   • Marge recently dressed Joanne Dru ranch style during the making of Howard Hawks' Red River. Miss Dru, in old-style calicoes and ginghams, felt grubby beside the dudes and dudesses who galloped over from near-by ranches […]1947, Collier's, volume 120, New York, N.Y.: P. F. Collier, →OCLC, page 258
2. (colloquial) A woman, generally a younger woman, especially one who is perceived to be cool or hip.
   • “Sorry, dude,” I said. “Dispatch One, she's gonna call me?” / “Yo, the dudess,” he said, heading out the door.1988, Larry Beinhart, You Get What You Pay For, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN
   • DEALING WITH DEFIANT DUDES (AND DUDESSES) [chapter title]1997, Ed Dunlop, chapter 10, in “How Do I Get These Kids to Listen?”: Practical Ways to Gain and Hold Attention in the Classroom, Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Sword of the Lord Publishers, →ISBN, page 181