Definition of anchoress in US English:
anchoress
nounˈaNGk(ə)rəsˈæŋk(ə)rəs
historical A female anchorite.
Example sentencesExamples
- Among these was Margaret Kirkeby who became an anchoress in his neighbourhood and to whom a number of his major English works (notably The Forme of Perfect Living) are addressed.
- Two children dealing with their mother's disappearance (and father's attempts to remarry) encounter an anchoress who reveals the truth of their family's past.
- What is it about a fourteenth-century English anchoress that could be so appealing to people living at the beginning of the second millennium?
- As a priest performed the ceremonies of the burial office, Julian took up residence as an anchoress in a small apartment attached to the church.
- The author opens her new introduction to this edition with an intriguing question: ‘What does it mean to be an anchoress in postmodernity?’
Synonyms
abstainer, recluse, hermit, solitary, anchorite, desert saint, celibate, puritan, nun, monk