Word.ws English Dictionary

sophistress

sophistress noun: a female sophist.

Noun

sophistress (plural sophistresses)

  1. (archaic, derogatory, historical) A female sophist.
    • Now the mighty Sophistress is o’erthrown!1677, Thomas D’Urfey, A Fond Husband, London: James Magnes & Richard Bentley, Act V, Scene 5, p. 61
    • VVhat vvill you ſay to Aſpatia Mileſia, vvho is Celebrated as a Sophiſtreſs, (you knovv the VVord Sophister vvas not then abus'd) a Teacher of Rethorick, and a Poeteſs?1691, [William Walsh], A Dialogue Concerning Women, Being a Defence of the Sex. […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley […], and J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC, page 89

Forms of sophistress

pluralsophistresses

Origin of sophistress

From sophist + -ress and sophister + -ess.

Questions about sophistress

What does sophistress mean?
Sophistress means a female sophist.
What part of speech is sophistress?
Sophistress is a noun.
What is the plural of sophistress?
The plural of sophistress is sophistresses.

Words near sophistress in the dictionary

  1. sophisticators
  2. sophisticism
  3. sophisticisms
  4. sophisto
  5. sophistos
  6. sophistress
  7. sophistresses
  8. sophistries
  9. sophistry
  10. sophists
  11. sophmore

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sophistress (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.

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