dandyess

English

Etymology

An 19th-century caricature of a “dandizette” or dandyess.

From dandy +‎ -ess.

Noun

dandyess (plural dandyesses)

1. (obsolete) A female dandy.

   Synonyms: (archaic) dandizette, (archaic, rare) quaintrelle

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:dandy

   • 1824, John Banim, Revelations of the dead-alive [by J. Banim]., pages 56–57:

     Here should the laced, straitened and waisted dandy or dandyess, whose beau-ideal of figure rests within the narrow span of slimness, and to whom any other view of the body is out of taste, out of conception, impossible -- here should they learn, while studying the flow and superfluity of a more polished age than their own, to doubt, at least, their sovereign and exclusive right to rack, and wrench, and torture poor human nature.

   • 1852, Joseph Jones, Major Jones's Courtship:

     It would seem that a compromise has been made between the dandys and dandyesses, and that bustles are undergoing a sensible reduction.

   • 1869, William Henry Harvey, Memoir of W. H. Harvey:

     Some of the young dandies and dandyesses allow the hair to grow long, and when thickly anointed and brushed straight in all directions, the expression of the face becomes singularly wild and savage: such a head would make a capital sign for the Sun Fire and Life Office.