as in maids
a young upper-class woman who has begun going to special parties where she will meet and be seen by other people from the upper class
The invitation-only event is a prized ticket for the city's debutantes.
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Recent Examples of debutantes
Each year, noteworthy families flock to the famed Hotel Shangri-La in Paris for a formal celebration of the debutantes, who traditionally work with designers to dream up bespoke haute couture gowns.
—
Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025
Even at some of the dressiest Mardi Gras balls in the city, you’re guaranteed to find debutantes and knights alike gathered around a table full of Foosackly’s.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 23 Nov. 2025
The Mitford sisters, as debutantes, were expected to quietly marry into their class and fade into the woodwork.
—Mimi Pond, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025
Even at some of the dressiest Mardi Gras balls in the city, you’re guaranteed to find debutantes and knights alike gathered around a table full of Foosackly’s.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 23 Nov. 2025
The Mitford sisters, as debutantes, were expected to quietly marry into their class and fade into the woodwork.
—Mimi Pond, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debutantes
Noun
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But Season Four takes viewers to lower-class settings like the bars where scullery maids and footmen relax, the markets where house staff shop, even the secret drawing rooms where servants eat their breakfast and discuss town gossip.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
2 Feb. 2026
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In Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s, a young white woman teams up with two Black maids to document the realities of domestic work in segregated households.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a non-profit research organization, has tracked nihilistic attacks across the globe, including stabbings in Sweden by teenagers associated with a group called No Lives Matter, and the killing of three girls in northern England.—
Curt Devine,
CNN Money,
10 Feb. 2026
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The Central Yellowjackets won a back-and-forth game over the Manual Crimsons in KHSAA Seventh Region girls basketball.—
Ray Padilla,
Louisville Courier Journal,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The film, directed by renowned German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, is the latest retelling of the story of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a real-life aristocrat accused of bathing in the blood of virgins to retain her youth.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Jan. 2026
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According to Castro, nuns, who were supposed to be professional virgins—no Duke of Monmouth for them—could try bloodletting or enemas for a cure.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Seen on the likes of Pamela Anderson, Ariana Grande, and most recently, Vera Wang, the micro bang was first popularized in the 1950s by film ingenues like Audrey Hepburn.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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This is a 1,000 year old tradition where two maidens are chosen to be slaughtered as repentance to one of their goddesses.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
7 Aug. 2025
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Prized 2-year-olds trained by Bob Baffert ran an impressive 1-2 in their debuts in Sunday’s opening race, a six-furlong test for maidens.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Debutantes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debutantes. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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