actress

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈæk.tɹɪs/ See IPA manual

Freq #3389

Meanings

1

noun
a woman who performs in plays, films, or television

She won an award for her role as the leading actress.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

actorineactrice

Word family

Forms actresses

Derived forms actressyblacktressplay-actress

Related forms actrix

Etymology

From actor + -ess. Probably formed independently of Middle French actrice.

Topics

People & Society Film & Television Theater & Performance

External links

# actress

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæk.tɹɪs/
**Frequency rank:** 3389

## Meanings
1. a woman who performs in plays, films, or television

## Examples
- She won an award for her role as the leading actress.

## Synonyms
- actorine
- actrice

## Derived Forms
- actressy
- blacktress
- play-actress

## Related Forms
- actrix

## Etymology
From actor + -ess. Probably formed independently of Middle French actrice.

## AI Etymology
Actress is from actor plus -ess. Probably formed independently of Middle French actrice. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as a noun, actress denotes a woman who performs in plays, films, or television. The same word family continues in derived forms such as actressy, blacktress, and play-actress and related entries such as actrix.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Film & Television
- Theater & Performance

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