songstress

/ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs/

//ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"songstress" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“songstress” is uncommon English (frequency #67,847 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,847
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female singer.

Corpus desk

Index EN-songstress · songstress · English

songstress · rank #67,847 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,847
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sorter

Nearest frequency peer: sorter (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “songstress”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “songstress” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for songstress
PropertyValue
Headwordsongstress
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#67,847
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “songstress” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).songstressfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “sorter” (#67,848), “Sok” (#67,845), “smidgen” (#67,841). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “songstress” is #67,847. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

songstress is uncommon English at frequency #67,847 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for songstress in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From songster + -ess. Compare West Frisian sjongeres (“songstress”), Dutch zangeres (“songstress”). The correct English form is songstress, spelled S-O-N-G-S-T-R-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female singer.
  2. 2
    A female songbird.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how songstress appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The songstress paused, and was answered by one or two deep and hollow groans, that seemed to proceed from the very agony of the mortal strife.
  2. At every pause in the music she gracefully waved her flower-basket round, inviting the loiterers to buy; and many a sesterce was showered into the basket, either in compliment to the music or in compassion to the songstress—for she was blind.

Etymology

From songster + -ess. Compare West Frisian sjongeres (“songstress”), Dutch zangeres (“songstress”).

Synonyms

cantrixchanteusechantresssingeress

This word in other languages

cantante(Español)chanteuse(Français)Sängerin(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "songstress"?
"songstress" is spelled S-O-N-G-S-T-R-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs/.
What does "songstress" mean?
As a noun, "songstress" means: A female singer.
How do you pronounce "songstress"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "songstress" is /ˈsɑŋɡ.stɹɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "songstress"?
From songster + -ess. Compare West Frisian sjongeres (“songstress”), Dutch zangeres (“songstress”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "songstress", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Shepparton#67,827rumination#67,806trigeminal#67,907uncoupling#67,923

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list