housewife
noun
house·wife
| \ ˈhau̇s-ˌwīf
; especially in sense 2 and in early poetry ˈhə-zəf or -səf
\
; especially in sense 2 and in early poetry ˈhə-zəf or -səf
\
plural housewives\ ˈhau̇s-ˌwīvz
also ˈhau̇z-ˌwīvz ; ˈhə-zəfs , -zəvz , -səfs , -səvz \
also ˈhau̇z-ˌwīvz ; ˈhə-zəfs , -zəvz , -səfs , -səvz \
Definition of housewife
1
: a married woman in charge of a household
2
: a pocket-size container for small articles (such as thread)
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Other Words from housewife
housewifeliness
\ ˈhau̇s-ˌwīf-lē-nəs
\
noun
\
noun
housewifely
\ ˈhau̇s-ˌwīf-lē
\
adjective
\
adjective
housewifery
\ ˈhau̇s-ˌwī-f(ə-)rē
; British -(ˌ)wi-f(ə-)rē also ˈhə-zə-frē \
noun
; British -(ˌ)wi-f(ə-)rē also ˈhə-zə-frē \
noun
housewifey
\ ˈhau̇s-ˌwī-fē
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of housewife in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The high drama of housewives bickering about who said what over a bottle of wine. — Jason Parham, WIRED, "Depth of Field: The Otherworldliness of the Democratic Presidential Debates," 1 Aug. 2019 Officers and residents describe middle-class teenagers and housewives driving in from the suburbs to score drugs. — The Economist, "Baltimore needs help to fix its crime problems," 1 Aug. 2019 Brosnahan: Midge starts out a model 1950s housewife, straight out of Woman’s Day. — Amy Reiter, Los Angeles Times, "‘Mrs. Maisel’ actresses battle restraints on women — then and now," 15 Aug. 2019 Wilde is set to helm and star in Don’t Worry, Darling, a psychological thriller centering on a discontented 1950s housewife, whose reality begins to crack, revealing a disturbing truth underneath. — Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, "Olivia Wilde to direct psychological thriller about a 1950s housewife," 31 July 2019 There’s a housewife played by Ginnifer Goodwin in the ‘60s, a socialite (Lucy Liu) in the ‘80s, and a lawyer (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) in 2019, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. — Paula Bernstein, Fortune, "What TV Shows to Watch This August: From ‘BH90210’ and ‘GLOW’ to ‘Mindhunter’ and More," 1 Aug. 2019 But soon after, lay readers like Marjorie Rice, a San Diego housewife with a high school math education, discovered new tessellating pentagon families beyond those known to Kershner. — Quanta Magazine, "Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem," 11 July 2017 The postmodern novel about a housewife in Ohio is written as one sentence, and is 1,040 pages long. — Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times, "Booker Prize longlist includes Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Valeria Luiselli," 24 July 2019 In this historical thriller set in 1960s Baltimore, 30-something housewife Maddie Schwartz leaves her husband to pursue her passion for journalism. — Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, "5 books not to miss: 'Lady in the Lake,' 'Crisis in the Red Zone,' 'Helpline'," 21 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'housewife.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for housewife
housewife
noun
English Language Learners Definition of housewife
: a married woman who stays at home, does cleaning, cooking, etc., and does not have another job outside the home
See the full definition for housewife in the English Language Learners Dictionary
housewife
noun
house·wife
| \ ˈhau̇s-ˌwīf
\
\
plural housewives\ -ˌwīvz \
Kids Definition of housewife
: a married woman in charge of a household
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