mistresses

Noun

mistress (plural mistresses)

1. A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership.
   • She was the mistress of the estate-mansion, and owned the horses.

   Synonyms:

   boss, head, leader

2. A female head of household.
   • In came the boy from over the way, who was suspected of not having board enough from his master; trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one, who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her Mistress.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 59
3. A female teacher.
   • games mistress

   Synonyms:

   schoolmarm

4. The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations.
   • “But soon his wrath being o’er, he took / “Another mistress, or new book:1819, Lord Byron, Mazeppa, a Poem, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 11

   Synonyms:

   bit on the side, fancy woman, comaré, goomah

5. A dominatrix.
   • As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.2006, Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope, page 376
6. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it.
   • A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.1711 June 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, June 15, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 92; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New...

See all 15 meanings of mistress