girlboss

noun

girl·​boss ˈgər(-ə)l-ˌbȯs 

-ˌbäs

variants or less commonly girl boss

plural girlbosses also girl bosses

: an ambitious and successful woman (especially a businesswoman or entrepreneur)

As … a female captain of industry, she became an accidental role model of female ambition and success. She was the ultimate girlboss.

—Julia Molony

"I think the biggest part of being a girl boss in the office, at home, or anywhere you go is just knowing your value," [Meghan] Markle says.

—Samantha Simon

Instead of changing the system, the girlboss just took on those traditional leadership roles and claimed the problem had been solved by the nature of her being there. But, by deeming her "girlboss" instead of just "boss," we kept her separate, somehow othered, in the workplace world that she'd become a part of.

—Abby Snyder

girlboss feminism

the girl-boss era

girlboss verb, transitive + intransitive

or less commonly girl-boss

girlbossed also girl-bossed; girlbossing also girl-bossing; girlbosses also girl-bosses

… girlbossing her way towards greater authority …

—Abigail Nussbaum

Examples of girlboss in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bellugi gives a sufficiently winsome performance to paper over the essential dullness of her character, as Teresa pivots from noble martyr to inspiring leader, while her female peers are largely conceived in cheery girlboss shorthand. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024

Blunt stars as our whistleblower/window into all the excess, a Gulf Coast girlboss named Liza Drake. —EW.com, 27 Oct. 2023

Although recent years have been pink-heavy, thanks to the influence of The Wing, Glossier, and all those 2010s girlboss brands, peach has its own niche appeal. —Katy Kelleher, refinery29.com, 20 Dec. 2023

Whether this makes the movie an innately feminist work or, as some detractors have claimed, a superficial girlboss narrative is certainly open to debate. —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2023

In other words, to be a soft girl is to radically reject the idea of being a girlboss, the bastion of feminine achievement that was an ideal during the tech boom of the late 2000s and 2010s. —Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 10 Oct. 2023

If #girlboss were a dress—minus the negative connotations—this would be that dress. —Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 13 Dec. 2023

Any thoughts on how to help defuse this potential time bomb? Work Advice: Dealing with a toxic 'girlboss' might mean moving on Karla: Neither of your leads is being 100 percent professional here. —Karla L. Miller, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023

Not even the holidays can stop a girlboss from girlbossing too close to the Yule log. —Carrie Wittmer, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

2016, in the meaning defined above