Bastardess

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A woman who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant. dated, rare

    "[…]when a bastard marries a bastardess, and he has a legitimate Israelite brother :–all these marriages are indeed legal[…]"

  2. 2
    A contemptible, inconsiderate, overly or arrogantly rude or spiteful woman. derogatory, offensive, vulgar

    "A bastardess like me would never be allowed past the door."

Example

More examples

"[…]when a bastard marries a bastardess, and he has a legitimate Israelite brother :–all these marriages are indeed legal[…]"

Etymology

From bastard + -ess, since 1843.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.