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

Emma Waters was a senior at Lee University, a Christian school in Cleveland, when the girlboss struck. — Emma Green, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026

In one corner, the heartless girlboss; in the other, the crackpot conspiracy theorist (who just happens to be more sympathetic and charismatic than such types usually are). — Nate Jones, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026

Stone is utterly convincing as a steely girlboss, but her performance is laced with enough strangeness to keep us guessing. — Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2025

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

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
• menelaus