a woman who acts in a play, film, broadcast, etc a woman who puts on a false manner in order to deceive others
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ac•tress /ˈæktrɪs/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Show Business, Pronounsa woman who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, etc.
ac•tress
(ak′tris),USA pronunciation n.
- Show Business, Pronounsa woman who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, television broadcasts, etc., esp. professionally.
- act(o)r + -ess 1580–90
- See -ess.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'actress' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Adams
- Anderson
- Andrews
- Arnaud
- Ashcroft
- Bacall
- Bankhead
- Bara
- Bennett
- Bergman
- Bernhardt
- Blanchett
- Bow
- Brice
- Browne
- Campbell
- Carter
- Claire
- Colbert
- Collette
- Cornell
- Crawford
- Cushman
- Davis
- Day
- Dench
- Deneuve
- Diaz
- Dietrich
- Dressler
- Duse
- Evans
- Fiske
- Fonda
- Fontanne
- Foster
- Garbo
- Gardner
- Gish
- Grenfell
- Gwyn
- Harlow
- Harris
- Hayes
- Henie
- Hepburn
- Hiller
- Jackson
- Jiang Qing
- Kemble