schoolmistress

noun

school·​mis·​tress ˈskül-ˌmi-strəs 

: a woman who teaches school

schoolmistressy

ˈskül-ˌmi-strə-sē 

adjective

Examples of schoolmistress in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) Smith won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for this curious, eccentric role as a 1930s schoolmistress who takes four young girls under her wing — for better and for worse. —Christina Newland, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2024

Four years later came her Oscar-winning portrayal of an idiosyncratic English schoolmistress in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. —Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024

The inspiration for Jean Brodie was a charismatic schoolmistress called Christina Kay. —Tim Parks, The New York Review of Books, 28 July 2020

The home above was empty, except for the small cry of a little girl (who had just received a good-night kiss but didn’t want to go to sleep), and the shadow of a hoop skirt, like a black devil in a perverse schoolmistress’s ankle boots. —Silvina Ocampo, The New Yorker, 11 July 2019

Usually, one schoolmistress declares her love to another and is rebuffed. —Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2018

FacebookTwitterPinterest 1/12On a walk with school-mates and a schoolmistress, London, 1957.From Bettmann/Getty Images. —Vanity Fair, Vanities, 28 Mar. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for schoolmistress

• headmistress
• postmistress
• mistress

Kids Definition

schoolmistress

noun

school·​mis·​tress -ˌmis-trəs 

: a woman who teaches school