diseuse

American  

[dee-zœz] / diˈzœz /

noun

plural

diseuses

1. a female professional entertainer who performs monologues.

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diseuse British  

/ dizœz /

noun

1. Male counterpart: diseur.  (esp formerly) an actress who presents dramatic recitals, usually sung accompanied by music

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Etymology

Origin of diseuse

1895–1900; < French, feminine of diseur diseur; -euse

Example Sentences

My closest confidants were two extraordinary women: Paula Laurence, Broadway star, diseuse and needle-sharp analyst of the passing scene; and Ann Rogers, Welles’s secretary for 30 years.

From The Guardian • Nov. 28, 2015

So coloratura soprano and contemporary music singer Alison Bell, slinky cabaret diseuse Meow Meow, and bel canto soprano Gabriela Istoc were the women fighting for the affections of Mark Padmore's brutally charismatic Macheath.

From The Guardian • Mar. 4, 2013

She is hounded down the scale until she gives up the child, flops in & out of a 15¢ flophouse, suddenly reappears as a toasted but disillusioned Paris diseuse.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ruth Draper has soundly insisted that she is no mere monologist or diseuse; she describes herself as a character actress.

From Time Magazine Archive

A small platform had been erected at one end, and as Diana and Miss Lermontof entered, a French diseuse was just ascending it preparatory to reciting in her native tongue.

From The Splendid Folly by Pedler, Margaret