Skip to content

debutante

debutant

noun deh-boo-TAHN-teh Rare
People & Society Community

Origin: From French 'débutant', from 'débuter' meaning to make a first appearance.

Also means

newcomer

Usage Note

Debutante is borrowed from French and refers to someone making their first appearance in a role, sport, or public sphere. In Spanish it functions as a common-gender noun — el debutante / la debutante — with no separate feminine form. In the historical English sense of a young woman's social debut, Spanish retains debutante with the same meaning. In modern Spanish sport journalism it simply means a player or team making their debut.

Examples

"La debutante marcó un gol en su primer partido."

Natural Translation

The debutant scored a goal in her first match.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic