actress

noun

Definition of actressnext
as in actor
a woman or girl who acts in a play, movie, etc. The versatile actress can seemingly play any role. The actresses in the musical vastly outperformed their male counterparts.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of actress Alo also localized its marketing, tapping actress Zhao Lusi, actor Wang Yibo, and supermodel Sui He, a veteran of multiple Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows. — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026 Fjord, the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes, will play NYFF, bringing lead actress Renate Reinsve to the festival for the third time after The Worst Person in the World and Sentimental Value. — Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026 This is a likely reference to the billionaire sunglasses heir Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio and the actress-influencer Jessica Serfaty. — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026 The young actress returned for 2023’s Scream VI, but was fired from Scream 7 in November of that year. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for actress
Recent Examples of Synonyms for actress
  1. actor
  2. performer
  3. entertainer
  4. player
Noun
  • Niu Jianrong, an experienced TV and film director, made his debut as a lead actor in the film.
    — Jenny S. Li, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Before moving behind the camera, Ropp established himself as an actor in Gavin O’Connor’s The Way Back, Megan Park’s The Fallout and Peter Farrelly’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of actor
Noun
  • Two-time Grammy-winning superstar Carpenter most recently received her first Primetime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category recognizing her work as an EP and performer on The Muppet Show.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Cage had meant his organ piece to enjoy the indeterminacy of neither the performer nor the audience knowing how long the score, in eight parts, would last.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of performer
Noun
  • By the way, there were a high number of Kansas City fans in their red jerseys in the stands but Taylor Swift, the superstar singer/entertainer who is married to Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, didn’t attend.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Of course, one entertainer who isn’t in that category would seem to be a natural fit for Arrowhead — the one who has married into Kansas City’s aristocracy.
    — Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of entertainer
Noun
  • The queen bee of the group is Paulina (a sensational Denée Benton), who rambles on about her American cousins and her pro-football player boyfriend Kofi, whom no one has actually met.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026
  • This, combined with the glacial pace of emissions reductions, gives the sense that key players are more interested in surviving what’s coming, rather than stopping it.
    — Stephanie Walton, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of player

Browse Nearby Words

act out
actress
actresses
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Actress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/actress. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on actress

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about actress

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All