Bette
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A variant of Betty, a diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.
""Jack, couldn't you call me Bette again? You know how much I hate Bess. I don't know what's happened; you've been calling me Bette since we came to California and now, suddenly, you're calling me Bess." There's a long silence. Dad's still up on his knees; I'm driving along Sepulveda Boulevard toward Olympic. "Well, Bette, I married you as Bess and I've always liked that name. It's a name you don't hear very often; it's a strong name like you. Every time I call you Bette I'm afraid somebody else might answer.""
Example
More examples""Jack, couldn't you call me Bette again? You know how much I hate Bess. I don't know what's happened; you've been calling me Bette since we came to California and now, suddenly, you're calling me Bess." There's a long silence. Dad's still up on his knees; I'm driving along Sepulveda Boulevard toward Olympic. "Well, Bette, I married you as Bess and I've always liked that name. It's a name you don't hear very often; it's a strong name like you. Every time I call you Bette I'm afraid somebody else might answer.""
Related phrases
More for "bette"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.