- 1a man's (usually a married man's) mistress is a woman that he is having a regular sexual relationship with and who is not his wife
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 2(in the past) the female head of a house, especially one who employed servants the mistress of the house Lizzie, fetch your mistress her shawl.
- 3(formal) (old-fashioned) the female owner of a dog or other animal
- 4(of something) (formal) a woman who is in a position of authority or control, or who is highly skilled in something She wants to be mistress of her own affairs (= to organize her own life). She is the mistress of plain speech. compare master
Check pronunciation: mistress