1.
a polite way of referring to someone else's daughter, or to a young lady
An honorific form used to refer to someone else's daughter, typically in polite or formal contexts. Also used as a polite form of address to young women, especially in old-fashioned, refined, or service-industry settings.
2.
a sheltered, upper-class, well-bred young woman; a "princess" type
Used to describe a young woman who has grown up in a wealthy, protected environment and may be naive about ordinary life. Can be neutral, admiring, or slightly mocking depending on context. In fiction and popular culture, the "お嬢様 character type" is a well-established trope.
Composed of the honorific prefix お + 嬢 (young woman, daughter) + the honorific suffix 様. The bare form 嬢 is used in writing but rarely in speech.
Usage
- SENSE 1 (polite "daughter") is used when speaking to or about someone else's daughter. Never use it for your own daughter — that would sound absurd.
- SENSE 2 ("sheltered rich girl") is an evaluative description, not a form of address. It can be neutral, positive (elegant, refined), or negative (out of touch, helpless), depending on tone.
Common collocations
- お嬢様育ち: raised like a young lady of means
- お嬢様学校: a school associated with well-bred girls; a "princess school"
- お嬢様言葉: refined, old-fashioned women's speech (e.g., using ですわ, ございますのよ)
- お嬢様キャラ: the "ojousama" character type (anime/manga)
- お嬢様っぽい: "ojousama"-like; refined; pampered
Family of related terms
- お嬢さん: young lady; someone's daughter — slightly less formal, much more common in everyday polite speech.
- お嬢様: more honorific and more loaded with "well-bred" connotations.
- 娘: daughter — used by parents about their own daughter, or as a general word for a young woman (somewhat old-fashioned).
- 令嬢: (literary) daughter of a distinguished family — highly formal, seen in news and formal writing.
Cultural note
The "お嬢様" image — a refined, sheltered, wealthy young woman who speaks politely, wears conservative clothes, and knows little of ordinary life — is a recognizable archetype in Japanese media. Associated speech patterns include sentence-final わ, よ, and the honorific copula ですわ. In real life, people rarely speak this way, but the image remains strong in fiction.