Mrs.
Americanabbreviation
plural
Mmes-
a title of respect prefixed to the surname or full name of a married woman.
Mrs. Jones; Mrs. Susan Jones.
-
a title prefixed to a mock surname that is used to represent possession of a particular attribute, identity, etc., especially in an idealized or excessive way.
Mrs. Punctuality.
noun
Pronunciation
Mrs., first recorded in the early 17th century, was originally, like Miss, an abbreviation of mistress. Mrs. and mistress were at first used interchangeably in all contexts, but by the second half of that century, the written form of the abbreviation was largely confined to use as a title preceding a woman's surname. By the early 19th century, reduction of the medial consonant cluster had contracted the usual pronunciation of the title from to or . The contracted pronunciation used other than as a title was not considered standard, and today, locutions like Let me discuss it with the missis are perceived as old-fashioned. Currently, two main types of pronunciation for the abbreviation occur in the United States; and sometimes are the common forms in the North and North Midland, while in the South Midland and South, the prevalent types are and , the latter homophonous with the usual pronunciation of the abbreviation Ms.
Gender
See Ms.
Etymology
Origin of Mrs.
Abbreviation of mistress
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While Mrs. Archer made introductions—the boy was Oliver and the girl was Alyx—the kids inspected me while I inspected them, all of us trying to pretend we weren’t.
From Literature
Even though I’d done this a lot, I still couldn’t stop my eyes from automatically going up to the balcony where Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln would be taking their seats any minute.
From Literature
At Mrs. Riley’s boardinghouse, Ryui is taken under the wing of Torajiro “Jack” Baba, a cynical photographer with an avant-garde aesthetic.
A “smart, energetic young girl,” in Ms. DuBois’s words, the future Mrs. Stanton was a natural rebel who hated being told “no.”
Mr. and Mrs. Fox were lucky parents; about half of American babies born in the mid-1800s died before their fifth birthday.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
