headmistress

American  

[hed-mis-tris] / ˈhɛdˈmɪs trɪs /

noun

1. a woman in charge of a private school.

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headmistress British  

/ ˌhɛdˈmistrəs /

noun

1. Gender-neutral form: head teacher.  a female principal of a school

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Gender

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

• headmistress-ship noun
• headmistressship noun

Etymology

Origin of headmistress

First recorded in 1870–75; head + mistress

Explanation

A headmistress is the female principal of a school, particularly a private school. You might need to ask the headmistress of your high school for a college recommendation. Private schools and prep schools often call the person in charge a headmaste if he's a man and a headmistress if she's a woman. It's more common to have a principal in the United States, especially in public schools. The word headmistress is commonly thought of as British, but it's increasingly likely that a British student will use the term head teacher instead, since it can refer to either a man or a woman.

Example Sentences

She was the headmistress of a Christian boarding school for girls that promoted traditional values while ostensibly accepting the changes required by the new order.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

This was to the fury of her former headmistress in Eastbourne, who had hoped she would apply to Cambridge and wrote to the theatre to tell them so.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025

Neither the stage production nor the musical can do much with the melodramatic Madame Morrible, the headmistress at Shiz who becomes a key player in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz’s fascist machinations.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024

Yeoh plays the headmistress at their school, and, the studio recently announced, Peter Dinklage will be Dr. Dillamond, a history professor and goat.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2024

Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large, spotted handkerchief throughout this conversation, now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, “I dunno, Professor...that’s fer the Heads of House an’ the headmistress ter decide...”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling