adventuress

noun

ad·​ven·​tur·​ess əd-ˈven-ch(ə-)rəs How to pronounce adventuress (audio)
: a female adventurer: such as
a
: a woman who seeks dangerous or exciting experiences
b
somewhat old-fashioned : a woman who seeks position or livelihood by questionable means

Examples of adventuress in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Dempsey was a creative type, the sort of searcher who, in the Gilded Age, was known as an adventuress. — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2023 Lewd women, bawds and adventuresses were not welcome in courts, nor were prostitutes or immoral characters. — Clement Knox, Time, 4 Feb. 2020 Babitz’s gleefully debaucherous memoir captures her teen years as a glamour-mad adventuress pinballing around a town full of kooks. — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024 In 1871 an English adventuress named Lucy Walker became the first woman to summit the mountain. — Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, 1 Aug. 2019 Jenna Coleman, already a veteran of storied nerd franchise Doctor Who, will play Lady Johanna Constantine, an 18th-century occult adventuress and ancestor of John Constantine. — Christian Holub, EW.com, 26 May 2021

Word History

Etymology

adventure entry 1 + -ess

First Known Use

1707, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of adventuress was in 1707

Rhymes for adventuress

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Browse Nearby Words

adventuresomely
adventuress
adventurine
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Adventuress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adventuress. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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