Stepdame
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A stepmother. archaic
"'To be sure, Maud; maybe you are right; a stepdame is a risk, and I ought to have asked you first what you thought of it; and upon my honour,' she continued merrily but kindly, observing that my eyes, I know not exactly from what feeling, filled with tears, 'I'll never again advise your papa to marry, unless you first tell me you wish it.'"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"'To be sure, Maud; maybe you are right; a stepdame is a risk, and I ought to have asked you first what you thought of it; and upon my honour,' she continued merrily but kindly, observing that my eyes, I know not exactly from what feeling, filled with tears, 'I'll never again advise your papa to marry, unless you first tell me you wish it.'"
Etymology
From Middle English stepdame; equivalent to step- + dame.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.