spinster
/ˈspɪnstɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.
Derogatory
noun
One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spinmeister.
Example Sentences
- "If […] a woman be named spinster, she may abate […]the same [writ]."
- "Iola Boylen is Mama's longtime friend and neighbor, a spinster who lives with her never-seen domineering mother."
- "[…]as a young woman she created a scandal by pursuing a passionate affair with a married opera singer, and she has spent the rest of her life as a spinster daydreaming of her long-lost love."
- "The spinsters and the knitters in the sun."
Etymology
From Middle English spynnestere (“woman who spins fibre”), from c. 1350; equivalent to spin + -ster. The semantic development is from a historical notion of unmarried women spinning thread for a living.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈspɪnstɚ/
- British English: /ˈspɪnstə/