stewardess

[ stoo-er-dis, styoo- ]

noun

1. a woman flight attendant.
2. a woman who attends to the comfort of passengers on a ship, train, or bus.

stewardess

/ ˈstjʊədɪs; ˌstjʊəˈdɛs /

noun

1. a woman who performs a steward's job on an aircraft or ship

Gender Note

See -ess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stewardess¹

1625–35 for earlier sense “female steward”; 1930–35 stewardess fordef 1; steward + -ess

Example Sentences

In 1958, when Mary Pat Laffey Inman became a stewardess — as they were then called — for Northwest Airlines, she was 20 years old and the clock was already ticking.

From New York Times

In 2019, History Theatre in St. Paul, Minn., debuted the play “Stewardess” by playwright Kira Obolensky about Laffey Inman standing up to a corporate giant and making a difference.

From Seattle Times

In addition to Laffey Inman’s story, “Fly With Me” traces the evolution of cabin attendants from a man’s job at the dawn of commercial air travel in the 1920s to the stewardess era of the 1950s.

From Seattle Times

"You have to remember that when she came to Britain to serve, she was with her diplomat husband at the start of the war and they arrive first class on a passenger ship, while at the end of the war, she's having to become a bathroom stewardess on the liners - but at least it gives her some sort of feeling of freedom," Mulley says.

From BBC

She said, ‘I’m the stewardess he hijacked.’

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• waiter
• waitress