How to use governess in a sentence
12 example sentences · noun, verb
Governess means a woman paid to educate children in their own home. Example: “The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.”
Examples of governess by meaning
nounA woman paid to educate children in their own home.
- Calvin's cruel governess?1990 January 12, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)
nounA female governor.
- The lady governess pardoned criminals as soon as they were convicted and was so chronic in her actions that the courts had just about refused to function in convicting anyone.1927 January 21, “Hints and Dints”, in New Castle News, volume XLVII, number 117, New Castle, Pa., page four, columns 4–5
- I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of this woman and all she stands for and all those shallow people who think an Alaskan governess has what it takes to be a VP.2008, @tiredofher, CNN, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023
More sentences with governess
- The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.From the entry whisk
- Then comes the chance to become a governess, first in St.1975 November 16, “Moment of Truth”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC. From the entry presto
- A Recipe to make Cardinal, which I attribute to the German governess, raises a problem.1951, Herbert Warner Allen, A Contemplation of Wine, page 116. From the entry cardinal
- My governess was not allowed there as Mr.2014, Catherynne M. Valente, Six Gun Snow White, →ISBN. From the entry lord over
- My governess left me alone for half an hour with strict instructions to eat no blackberries during her absence.1975, Bertrand Russell, chapter 1, in Autobiography. From the entry bramble
- For a governess’ life she had been, indeed, notably unfit.1911, Max Beerbohm, chapter II, in Zuleika Dobson. From the entry penury
- Alice Kerr-Sutherland, a no-nonsense governess who in the early years of the century had abandoned her errant but legitimate little charges to pursue the high road of madamhood.1994, Christopher Hitchens, ‘On Spanking’, London Review of Books, volume 16, number 20. From the entry madamhood
- Dr Erasmus Darwin set up his two illegitimate daughters as the governesses of a school, noting that natural children often had happier (because less pretentious) upbringings than legitimate.1990, Roy Porter, English Society in the 18th Century, Penguin, published 1991, page 264. From the entry natural
- Moore, though impish and impudent, are, after all, so amusing and so graceful that the governess, it is said, sometimes hides behind a tree to watch.1942, Virginia Woolf, chapter 20, in The Death of the Moth, and other essays, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2011. From the entry impish
Meaning of governess
- noun A woman paid to educate children in their own home.
- noun A female governor.
- noun The wife of a governor.
Questions about governess in a sentence
- How do you use governess in a sentence?
- Governess is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.”
- What is a short sentence with governess?
- “Calvin's cruel governess?”
- What does governess mean?
- Governess means a woman paid to educate children in their own home.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: governess (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use governess in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/governess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.