housewife
/ˈhaʊs.waɪf/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
dialectal/ˈhʌzwaɪf/
housewife noun: a woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking. Also the alternative form of housewive.
Noun
housewife (plural housewives or housewifes)
- A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
- Mr Torture sells pain / To the housewives in Spain / He knows just what they crave / Mr Torture2000, Uli Kusch, "Mr. Torture", Helloween, The Dark Ride
- Synonyms:
- henhussy
- The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
- A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
- It was a housewife, containing needles, a bodkin, and thread; ‘and, do you know,’ added he, ‘it was the most useful thing she could have given me, for it lasted all the time I was at Rome to mend my clothes with […].’1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 246
- Woffington's housewife, made by herself, homely to the eye, but holds everything in the world1852, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Masks and Faces, act II
- Synonyms:
- hussy
- A worthless woman; a hussy.
Also used as
housewife is also the alternative form of housewive.
housewife meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
housewife in Hindi
- female head of household
- गृहिणी gŕhiṇī, घरनी gharnī, घरवाली gharvālī
housewife in Tamil
- இல்லத்தரசி
housewife in Marathi
- गृहिणीला
housewife in Urdu
- female head of household
- گَھر والی ghar vālī
More languagesFewer languages
- housewife in Bengali
- গৃহবধূ grihobodhu, গৃহিণী grihini, ঘরণী ghoroni
- housewife in Telugu
- గృహిణి
- housewife in Malayalam
- വീട്ടമ്മ, വീട്ടമ്മയെ, വീട്ടമ്മക്ക്
- housewife in Kannada
- ಗೃಹಿಣಿ
- housewife in Gujarati
- ગૃહિણી
- housewife in Odia
- ଗୃହବଧୂ, ଗୃହପାଳିତ୍ରୀ
- housewife in Nepali
- गृहिणिता
- housewife in Pashto
- ماتو mātu
- housewife in Tagalog
- maybahay
- housewife in Arabic
- رَبَّة مَنْزِل rabbat manzil, رَبَّة بَيْت rabbat bayt, رَبَّة أُسْرَة rabbat ʔusra
- housewife in Malay
- suri rumah
- housewife in Indonesian
- ibu rumah tangga, suri rumah, kotak jahit
- housewife in Thai
- แม่บ้าน mɛ̂ɛ-bâan
- housewife in Vietnamese
- bà nội trợ
- housewife in Myanmar
- အိမ်ရှင်မ imhrangma.
Examples of housewife in a sentence
- In some cultures, it is expected that a proper housewife should bake.
- Groups of businessmen, housewives, classmates or neighbors may engage in hadaka no tsukiai.
- Call me a housewife the way I'm cooking 🔥🔥🔥.
Synonyms of housewife
Forms of housewife
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | housewives |
| plural | housewifes |
| alternative form (archaic) | house-wife |
| alternative form (obsolete) | houswife |
| alternative form (obsolete) | huswife |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | housewifes |
| present participle | housewifing |
| past participle | housewifed |
| past | housewifed |
Origin of housewife
From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.
Words formed from housewife
Questions about housewife
- What does housewife mean?
- Housewife means a woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
- What is housewife in Hindi?
- Housewife in Hindi is गृहिणी (gŕhiṇī), घरनी (gharnī), घरवाली (gharvālī). See Housewife meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is housewife?
- Housewife is a noun.
- How do you pronounce housewife?
- Housewife is pronounced /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/.
- What is the plural of housewife?
- The plural of housewife is housewives.
Words near housewife in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: housewife (page history and authors); housewife (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); housewife (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-housewife.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-housewife (bag).wav.
Cite this entry: “housewife.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/housewife. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.