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

But Jackie’s defining value is framed as determination, and The Queen of Versailles is too busy handing her upbeat girlboss numbers to reckon in any meaningful way with the consequences. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025

Whereas the 2013-era girlboss reshaped herself to accommodate her company, her present-day incarnation turns herself into a company, a twenty-four-hour amalgamation of C.E.O. and product. —Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025

So how is the girlboss standing before us today, like Jesus on Easter Sunday? —Jessa Crispin, Air Mail, 11 Oct. 2025

Toxic, Chappell Roan-belting girlboss… or alien among us sent to annihilate all of living Earth? —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for girlboss

• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• blas