Citations:wifelet

English citations of wifelet

1. (colloquial, endearing) A wife.
   • 1857 June, “Miss Caley”, in Putnam’s Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science, and Art, volume IX, number LIV, New York, N.Y.: Miller & Company, […]; London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., →OCLC, page 586, column 1:

     Annie, wifelet, let me tell you of one of my foreign flirtations—one that I have never yet even hinted to you.

   • 1906, Flora Annie Steel, chapter XXVI, in A Sovereign Remedy, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 318:

     'You are most awfully fetching to-night—you look so jolly mysterious somehow,' he said joyously, putting his cheek against hers. 'Give me a kiss, wifelet.' She gave him one. She would have given him a dozen of the trivial things had he asked for them! Then she laid her hand on his.

   • 1990, Miranda Seymour, The Reluctant Devil: A Cautionary Tale, London: Heinemann, →ISBN; republished London: Mandarin, 1991, →ISBN, page 90:

     'My own little wifelet.' Harriet hung her head. 'Why not Sally-Anne? Why me?' Why indeed, he wondered, looking at the big blonde child who fate had proclaimed should be Mrs Grenderlyn?

   • 2006, Hester Browne, chapter 5, in The Little Lady Agency, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 53:

     I mean, who are you holding up as an example of marital bliss? Mummy, the unpaid housekeeper? Allegra, the largely ignored trophy wifelet?

2. (informal, by extension) A wife who is of small stature.
3. (informal, by extension) A long-term girlfriend.
4. (informal, by extension) Synonym of mistress (“the other woman in an extramarital relationship”)
   • 2007 March 30, Petronella Wyatt, “The Marquess of Bath – on the prowl for ‘wifelet 76’”, in Daily Mail‎^[1], London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 4 April 2016:

     The Marquess [Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath], now 74, who is best known for his remarkably unorthodox dress sense, his pornographic murals and his series of wifelets, is fixing me with a priapic eye while slurping wine from a beer glass. "I need some more," he declares loudly. "Wine?" I inquire. "No, wifelets, of course."