hussy
/ˈhʌzi/ noun
Forms hussies huzzy
- noun (informal, somewhat derogatory) A sexually immoral woman.
- noun (informal, somewhat derogatory) A cheeky or disrespectful girl; a woman showing inappropriate or improper behavior.
- noun (obsolete) A housewife or housekeeper.
- noun (obsolete) A case or bag for needles, thread, etc.
Synonyms
minx housewife adulteress fornicatress jade loose woman slut strumpet trollop
Etymology
From earlier hussive, hussif, the regular evolution of Middle English houswyf (“housewife”), equivalent to house + wife. Modern housewife is a restoration of the compound (and thus is a doublet), after its component parts had become unrecognisable through regular phonetic change, as well as gradual negative senses and historical factors.
The traditional pronunciation of the word is /ˈhʌzi/; the pronunciation with /s/ is a spelling pronunciation.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A housewife or housekeeper. [Obs.]
- noun A worthless woman or girl; a forward wench; a jade; --used as a term of contempt or reproach. Grew.
- noun A case or bag. See Housewife, 2.
Etymology [Contr. fr. huswife.]
Etymology [From Icel. h a case, prob. fr. h house. See House, and cf. Housewife a bag, Huswife a bag.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hussy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details