wolfess meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

wolfess

noun

Etymology From Middle English wolfesse, wolvas, wolvesse. By surface analysis, wolf + -ess.

A female wolf, a she-wolf.

Whan the chyldren were now set at the brinke of yᵉ water, by chaunce came a wolfesse out of the nexte mountaynes, which gaue thē soucke, vntil they we∣re founde of the Kynges shepherde, who bringin∣ge them home, toke them hys wyfe to nouryshe.1550, Iohn Carion, translated by Gwalter Lynne, compiled by Iohn Funcke, The Thre Bokes of Cronicles, Whyche Iohn Carion (a Man Syngularly Well Sene in the Mathematycall Sciences) Gathered wyth Great Diligence of the Beste Authours That Haue Written in Hebrue, Greke or Latine. […], London: […] [S. Mierdman] for Gwalter Lynne, […], folio xxv, verso; republished in Early English Books Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Text Creation Partnership, p. 2011:
The dog eloped with a white wolfess, and proved a good husband and father until his household was destroyed by relentless man.1922, Souls for Sale, page 384:

4 more examples

“Yes, they got here hours ago, just about the time you went prowling around like a wolf, they were supposed to come tomorrow, but I guess they changed their minds on the date.” / “Wolf, am I?” Jack laughed, taking the hint belatedly. “Well, maybe I am, and you are the wolfess I’m after. Woof, woof, I am coming after you.” / Anna backed away feigning fear, then laughed.1947, It Started in Ravenswood, page 225:
“Another day in the George Lawrence Empire. Scene, the fox-trot ballroom. Characters, a wolfess aged forty-two and yours truly.” He rolled his eyes like a woman’s. “Tommy, hold me tight, will you honey?” he whispered in the role of the wolfess. Then the woman’s eyes changed into the sly and sad and abandoned eyes of a homo.1954, Benjamin Appel, Sweet Money Girl: A Gold Medal Original, page 64:
In the crowd that welcomed him home, consisting of about eleven creatures, for all the others were hiding under beds, there was a speed-crazy young wolfess, with built-in instantaneous pickup ability, and in no time at all the wolf and his new-found mate were setting new records for driving upside down, backward, blindfolded, handcuffed, and cockeyed, doubled and redoubled.1956, The New Yorker, page 28, column 3:
Allyn Ann McLerie slinks skillfully as cat and wolfess; Richard Hayes struts smoothly as “The Stork Who Married a Dumb Wife;” Kaye Ballard unleashes her lush voice, and Bert Convy and Nancy Haywood exploit their youthful vitality in numerous guises.1963, New York Theatre Critics’ Reviews, page 327, column 3:

Figuratively, Slang A predatory woman.

He’ll enjoy the game, and if he goes into it with his eyes wide open, he won’t be ensnared by any tricks the wolfess plays on him. Not your man. He’s yours!1946, Elizabeth Woodward, Let’s Have a Party, page 19:
The hostess who invites only the gals whom she thinks she can outshine in looks and conversation, so that she’ll be queen of the ball, will swiftly win the reputation of having only female goons and creeps at her parties. Boys also duck the wolfess who manages to invite five men to every girl so that, although all of the frails enjoy a dizzy whirl, most of the men just stand around talking to one another. […] Keep your wolfess tactics away from a school dance or party, especially when they’re aimed at somebody else’s date.1947, Betty Betz, The Betty Betz Party Book, pages 16, 55:

2 more examples

[…] the types of girls you’re more likely to come across in your dating life.” There was the gold digger, the wolfess, and the catty character, but worst of all was the bad sport: […]2002, Lynn Peril, Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons, →ISBN, page 148:
The use of -ess(e) to form the nouns of female animals spread after the introduction of lioness and gave rise, by analogy, to the nonce-word dovess. But wolfess, the medieval term for a she-wolf, is now rarely used in Present Day English except to mean a woman that is sexually aggressive.[2015, Elena Sasu, Nicolas Trapateau, “Inkhorn Terms: Some that Got Away. Middle English Words Ending in -ess(e)”, in Fabienne Toupin, Brian Lowrey, editors, Studies in Linguistic Variation and Change: From Old to Middle English, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, 5. The fate of words ending in -ess(e): 3. Lexical revival, page 75:

Synonyms: she-wolf
Related terms: werewolfess