hostess
Syllables: host·essUK/ˈhəʊstəs//ˈhoʊstɪs/
hostess noun: a female host.
Noun
hostess (plural hostesses)
- A female host.
- The host and hostess greeted their guests at the door.
- The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
- A female innkeeper.
- Stewardess: a woman steward on an airplane.
- A bar hostess or bargirl; a paid female companion offering conversation and in some cases sex.
- A female prostitute.
- Synonyms:
- girl rented overnight
Verb
hostess (third-person singular simple present hostesses, present participle hostessing, simple past and past participle hostessed)
- To host, as a woman.
- Later in January, the alum club hostessed the initiation brunch at the Pi Beta Phi chapter house. It was thrilling to see so many girls with such enthusiasm!1975, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, volume 92, number 2, page 69
- Over the years she has maintained a close relationship with several former students. Currently, she alternates between visiting and hostessing two in Roanoke and Greenville, N.C., respectively, and is a proud godgrandmother to one’s new baby.1986 fall, MWC Today, volume 11, number 1, page 21, column 1
hostess meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam
hostess in Hindi
- female host
- आतिथेयी ātitheyī
hostess in Tamil
- விடுதித் தலைவி, ஓம்பு செவிலி, ஏரணங்கு
hostess in Bengali
- হোস্টেস, হোস্টেসকে
hostess in Malayalam
- ആതിഥേയ
More languagesFewer languages
- hostess in Kannada
- ಅತಿಥಿ ಸತ್ಕಾರಿಣಿ, ಗೃಹಿಣಿ, ಯಜಮಾನಿ, ಪರಿಚಾರಿಕೆ
- hostess in Punjabi
- ਹੋਸਟੇਸ, ਹੋਸਟੈੱਸ
- hostess in Gujarati
- પરિચારિકા
- hostess in Odia
- ଆତିଥେଯ଼ିକା
- hostess in Nepali
- होस्टेस, होस्टेसलाई
- hostess in Arabic
- مُضِيفَة muḍīfa
- hostess in Indonesian
- hostes, pramuria
Examples of hostess in a sentence
- The guests are starting to arrive, but the hostess is having kittens because nothing is ready yet.
- The party's off because the hostess is sick.
- The hostess explained that it was a young woman named Mallory’s “RIP to my 20s” birthday dinner.
Synonyms of hostess
Forms of hostess
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hostesses |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hostesses |
| present participle | hostessing |
| past participle | hostessed |
| past | hostessed |
Origin of hostess
From Middle English hostesse, from Middle French hostesse, from Old French ostesce, made up of oste (“host”) + -esce (“feminine marker”).
Words formed from hostess
Phrases with hostess
Questions about hostess
- What does hostess mean?
- Hostess means a female host.
- What is hostess in Hindi?
- Hostess in Hindi is आतिथेयी (ātitheyī). See Hostess meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hostess?
- Hostess can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce hostess?
- Hostess is pronounced /ˈhoʊstɪs/ (US).
- What is the plural of hostess?
- The plural of hostess is hostesses.
Words near hostess in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hostess (page history and authors); hostess (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hostess (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hostess (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hostess (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hostess (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hostess (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hostess (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hostess (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-hostess.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hostess.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hostess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.