Word.ws English Dictionary

governor-ess

governor-ess noun: a female governor.

Noun

governor-ess (plural governor-esses)

  1. A female governor.
    • Frantz for governor. All the world loves a cheerful man. Frantz will control the state convention. Webbers Falls is to have a new railroad. Frantz will be nominated without opposition. This is the day the republicans name the governor. Today the corner stone of this grand new state will be laid....1907 August 1, Porter Enterprise, volume 4, number 35, Porter, Okla., page [4], column 1
    • Marilla Ricker is running for Governor of New Hampshire. She would make an ideal governor-ess.1910, Elbert Hubbard, “A Woman for Governor”, in The Lawyer and Banker and Bench and Bar Review, page 198
  2. The wife of a governor.
    • He opens a ball (given by the Governor) with Lady Le Marchmont (this little fellow of 15 and the full-blown Governor-ess must have made a sweet couple).1859 January 8, “The Royal Middy and His Adulators”, in The Glasgow Herald, number 6024, page 4, column 6
    • He [Eli Houston Murray] is one of the handsomest men in Kentucky, and his wife is one of the leading beauties in the State. The Mormon brethren will be dazzled by the brilliancy of their beautiful Governor-ess.1880 January 23, “Eli H. Murray”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XXXVIII, number 23, Cincinnati, Oh., page 4, column 8

Examples of governor-ess in a sentence

  • Governor Fratz’^([sic]) stenographer was governor-ess for a few days this week.1907 August 1, Porter Enterprise, volume 4, number 35, Porter, Okla., page [4], column 1:
  • In fact nearly every State in the Union is fairly represented through the cuisine art of either a misplaced Governor or Governor-ess.1880 August 25, “The Cook Book in Politics”, in The Merrick County Item, volume 1, number 33, Central City, Neb., page [2], column 2:
  • Ferguson—the governor, or “governor-ess,” assuming that her husband is the real executive—issued 105 clemency proclamations.1925 December 5, “The War in Texas”, in The Atlanta Constitution, volume LVIII, number 175, Atlanta, Ga., page six, column 1:

Forms of governor-ess

pluralgovernor-esses

Questions about governor-ess

What does governor-ess mean?
Governor-ess means a female governor.
How do you use governor-ess in a sentence?
Governor Fratz’^([sic]) stenographer was governor-ess for a few days this week.
What part of speech is governor-ess?
Governor-ess is a noun.
What is the plural of governor-ess?
The plural of governor-ess is governor-esses.

Words near governor-ess in the dictionary

  1. Governor Winthrop desk
  2. Governor Winthrop desks
  3. governor's plum
  4. governor's plums
  5. Governor's Strait
  6. governor-ess
  7. governor-esses
  8. governor-general
  9. governor-general-in-council
  10. governor-generals-in-council
  11. governor-generalship

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: governor-ess (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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