manstress

M3A1N1S1T1R1E1S1S1

noun

A male equivalent of "mistress"; a male object of one's affections who lies outside of one's primary relationship.

“Tom and Nicole had been married for several years, but it was well known that she was keeping a manstress on the side.”

Scrabble 11

Meanings

nounmanstress (plural manstresses)

plural manstresses

  1. slangA male equivalent of "mistress"; a male object of one's affections who lies outside of one's primary relationship.

    Tom and Nicole had been married for several years, but it was well known that she was keeping a manstress on the side.

    1 more example

    4. Thou shalt commit adultery, or preadultery: If it feeleth good, do it. Particularly if you're French, and keeping a mistress or manstress is expected.

    1997 March 25, Edward P. Moser, “Words to Live By”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2020

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Blend of man + mistress, not attested before 1980.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

manstress. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manstress

MLA

“manstress.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manstress. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manstress,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manstress.

Source: manstress on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.