prime ministress

prime ministress noun: a female prime minister.

Noun

prime ministress (plural prime ministresses)

(dated) A female prime minister.
- Mrs. Drilling may, in fact, be pronounced the Première or Prime Ministress of my Majesty’s Council of Advisers.1859 June 18, “My Advisers”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round. […], volume I, number 8, London: […], page 182, column 2
- Then shall we hear of the beautiful Mrs. Camac reigning as Queen of Hastings, and mixing daily with her lieges upon the Steyne, seated in an open carriage, drawn by six white horses, and followed by four outriders. Then shall we find my Lord of Lorn (afterwards Duke of Argyle), Lord Petersham...1860, Albany Fonblanque, Jun., “King Fashion”, in The Welcome Guest: A Magazine of Recreative Reading for All, […], London: Houlston and Wright, […], page 280, column 1
Synonyms:

prime ministrix
(archaic, rare) The wife of a prime minister.
- I met Palmerston [Henry John Temple] yesterday at the prorogation. He looked cheerful, as he would do if he were going to the gallows. I congratulated Lady Palmerston [Emily Temple] as being Prime Ministress.1855 August 15, John, Lord Campbell, edited by [Mary Scarlett] Hardcastle, Life of John, Lord Campbell, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain: Consisting of a Selection from His Autobiography, Diary...
- As the husband climbs upwards on the official ladder, his wife climbs with him. She shares his ambition and his triumphs, and rejoices to be called “Madame Field-Marshaless” or “Madame Prime Ministress;” almost as much as if herself had won the star or baton.1860, Bayard Taylor, “Aspects of German Society”, in At Home and Abroad: A Sketch-Book of Life, Scenery, and Men, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam, […], page 466

Examples of prime ministress in a sentence

At least they are potential Prime Ministers, or Prime Ministresses.1940 November 30, “This Bally Ally Rally”, in Smith’s Weekly, Sydney, N.S.W., page 7:
They were counseled by a select group of Prime Ministers and Prime Ministresses (Minister was too masculine and Mistress was certainly unsuitable).1977 April 10, Marcy Bachmann, “Frankly Female: Perfect Society”, in The Oakland Sunday Tribune, Oakland, Calif., page 33:
This is a grim battle, not won by stray queens and prime ministresses and fortunate women of letters of science.1980, V[aidyanathapuram] R[ama] Krishna Iyer, Minorities, Civil Liberties, and Criminal Justice, New Delhi: People’s Publishing House...
The adherents of the Great Goddess tend to ignore the painful fact that goddesses, like queens and prime ministresses, have a record not noticeably more humane than that of their male counterparts.1987, Guy Ragland Phillips, The Unpolluted God, Pocklington, E. Yorks: Northern Lights, →ISBN, page 16:

Synonyms of prime ministress

prime ministrix

Forms of prime ministress

plural	prime ministresses

Origin of prime ministress

From prime minister + -ess.

Questions about prime ministress

What does prime ministress mean?: Prime ministress means a female prime minister.
How do you use prime ministress in a sentence?: At least they are potential Prime Ministers, or Prime Ministresses.
What part of speech is prime ministress?: Prime ministress is a noun.
What is the plural of prime ministress?: The plural of prime ministress is prime ministresses.

Words near prime ministress in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: prime ministress (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “prime ministress.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prime_ministress. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.