English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From headmistress +‎ -y.

Adjective edit

headmistressy (comparative more headmistressy, superlative most headmistressy)

  1. Resembling or characteristic of a headmistress.
    • 1956, Frances Martin, Summer Meridian, London: Cassell & Company Ltd, page 190:
      The moment passed, and she packed him firmly off with cheerful, conventional, headmistressy remarks about being a good boy, and next term coming soon.
    • 1961, Elizabeth Taylor, In a Summer Season, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →LCCN, page 67:
      So he would have to take her to some expensive Thames-side pub, and in this grand, headmistressy mood she would be sure to order smoked salmon.
    • 2007, Margaret Sutherland, Leaving Gaza, Leicester: Ulverscroft, published 2009, →ISBN, page 215:
      Violet, who was British and sat through my classes with a headmistressy stare, did say she admired the Heidelberg school of painters.

Synonyms edit