actress
act·ress/ˈæk.tɹɪs/noun
actress is spelled A-C-T-R-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables (act·ress). It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, actress means “A female who performs on the stage or in films” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of actress is actresses.
How many letters and syllables are in actress?
| Letters | 7: A-C-T-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: act·ress |
| In writing | 28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is actress?
Actress appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce actress?
- /ˈæk.tɹɪs/
- [ˈæk.tɹ̝̊ɪs]
- [ˈæk.t̠ɹ̠̊˔ɪs]
Actress has 2 syllables, split act·ress in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-actress.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of actress
- actresses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does actress mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A female who performs on the stage or in films.
- 2
archaicA female doer or "actor" (in a general sense).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate actress?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of actress: MAW.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Actress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense female actor – see also actor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | actrice |
| German | Schauspielerin |
| Portuguese | atriz |
| Spanish | actriz |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does actress come from?
From actor + -ess. Probably formed independently of Middle French actrice.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).