dungeon mistress

• Dungeon Mistress, dungeonmistress

dungeon mistress (plural dungeon mistresses, abbreviation DM)

1. (BDSM) A woman who manages a dungeon (a room dedicated to sadomasochistic sexual activity).

   Coordinate term: dungeon master

   • 2008 July, Gill McKnight, chapter 12, in Falling Star, [Cambridge], N.Y.: Bold Strokes Books, →ISBN, page 148:

     “She has her own BDSM porn site,” the friend insisted. “It’s called Rayner Terror.” / “Don’t look now, but I think she’s following us.” / They both threw cautious glances over their shoulders and paled to see Solley bearing down on them like a dungeon mistress ready to whoop some ass.

   • 2010, Laura Bickle, chapter 13, in Embers, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 227:

     “You’re a smokin’ hot dungeon mistress,” the salesclerk said. […] Even under her jacket, she felt every bit as powerful as any dungeon mistress who ever shopped at Wild Walt’s Leather ’n’ Lace.

   • 2013, Stephen Haughan, “The buyer”, in Pretty Dangerous, Stephen Haughan, →ISBN, pages 280–281:

     [M]any choosing to subject themselves to the humiliating and brutally painful punishment dealt out by the dungeon mistress herself, ‘Princess Adora’ as she liked to be known, a hulking twenty eight stone beast of a woman […]

   • 2017, Cleo Coyle, chapter 23, in Dead Cold Brew (Coffeehouse Mysteries; 16), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Prime Crime, →ISBN, page 83:

     “Did you think you could get away with it?” she demanded, rattling the cuffs like a dungeon mistress. “Get away with what?” “Grand theft.”

2. (BDSM) A woman who supervises a dungeon (a room dedicated to sadomasochistic sexual activity).

   Hypernym: dungeon monitor

   Coordinate term: dungeon master

   • 1995, Pauline Miriam, “My Personal Jesus”, in Laura Antoniou, editor, Some Women, New York, N.Y.: Rhinoceros, →ISBN, page 113:

     And why was the finger pointed at her by a sister equally seduced by sadomasochism? At first, we consulted the dungeon mistress. She had watched the scene in question.

   • 2001, Claudia Varrin, “SM Players, Their Scene, and Their Etiquette”, in Erotic Surrender: The Sensual Joys of Female Submission, New York, N.Y.: Citadel Press, →ISBN, page 204:

     Most club parties and private parties held in commercial dungeons in the United States have a dungeon master, mistress, or monitor (DM), whose responsibility it is to make sure that scenes are consensual and house rules are obeyed.

   • 2003, Charles [Allen] Moser, “S/M Interactions in Semipublic Settings”, in Christopher Hensley, Richard Tewksbury, editors, Sexual Deviance: A Reader, Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, →ISBN, part 4 (Sociological Sexual Deviance), page 239:

     Safety concerns and correct techniques for other behaviors are commonly discussed informally. Activities may vary from the accepted “safe” technique can lead to interruption by the dungeon master/mistress.

3. (rare) A woman who manages a dungeon (an underground prison or vault).

   Coordinate term: dungeon master

   • 1999, Paul Schuytema, Duncan McPherson, “Conversion”, in GameSpot Game Guide: Dungeon Keeper 2, GameSpot, →ISBN, chapter 7 (The Lands of Dungeon Keeper 2), page 109:

     Some fans of this game may be saying to themselves by this point, "Gee, I really like the dungeon mistress. She's swell. But I don't feel like she's being properly used. I mean, she has such ample... talents." Don't fret. This level is based on conversion. And we all know that torture is the most effective way to convert someone to your cause. And who knows more about torture than the one... the only... the dungeon mistress.

   • 2004 July, Alice Alfonsi, chapter 2, in Freaked Out (Lizzie McGuire; 15), New York, N.Y.: Disney Press/Volo, →ISBN, page 90:

     Holding her temper, Lizzie just said, “I’ll need props for the dungeon, so I can start decorating it.” / “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” said Kate. “I decided to be the Vampira dungeon mistress. I need you to be Floppy the Clown and give out balloons.”

   • 2012, Mary Lynne Gibbs, chapter 12, in Jericho Rising (The Jericho Cycle; 1), Ferndale, Mich.: Dragon’s Roost Press, published 2016, →ISBN, page 143:

     It was a place of true horror, though, because in this place the will of the High Priestess was carried out by Mabel, the dour and hulking dungeon mistress. Mabel took great joy in her horrific work. It was down to this dungeon that the High Priestess’ guards dragged me.

   • 2014, Sandra Tsing Loh, “Parenting Adolescents During Perimenopause, or Medieval Times”, in The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, pages 102–103:

     I remember how in Mr. Vincent’s fifth-period government, Jodi Schneekling ([…])—she of the Farrah Fawcett flip, Kork-Ease sandals, Chemin de Fer jeans with laces crossed in front, like the secret Masonic sign of some evil tween dungeon mistress—turned toward me. “Let’s see that poster,” Jodi said. Flattered at her interest (she was popular!), I flopped it open to her.

4. (roleplaying games, uncommon) A game mistress in Dungeons & Dragons games.

   Coordinate term: dungeon master

   • 1988–1989 winter, Bill Beattie, “Convents and Cloisters”, in Green Egg, volume XXVI, number 101, Ukiah, Calif.: Church of All Worlds, published summer 1993, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 38–39:

     Through all this, dear old Sister Agnes, eighty-five and the most lethal dungeon mistress in the land, sat rocking in her chair with her thin weathered face set in a smile. […] “Imagination, combined with a good sense of direction,” said Sister Agnes, “is the surest road to the Divine.” But could our dear dangerous dungeon mistress entirely imagine Sister Dominica’s imaginings?

   • 1995, Anthony Pietropinto, “A Fragile Bond”, in The Dream Girl: The Imaginary Perfect Woman All Men Hide, Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Publishing, →ISBN, page 168:

     Relatively few coeds played Dungeons and Dragons. I never heard of a dungeon mistress running things, although one or two might have tried it.

   • 1997 March 15, Richard Letts, “USA male Looking for a SWF in the UK”, in uk.singles‎^[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 November 2025:

     ) Hey, I'll pack my dice! Or I could bring Paranoia...
     we'll need a dungeon mistress ...

   • 2006 March 28, Unan Oranis, “Drop Your Pants And Mesure^[sic] Your Swords”, in rec.games.frp.dnd‎^[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 November 2025:

     you did not state that twice the length and girth of your dungeonmaster^[sic] was in fact noteworthy, indeed it seems that your dungeonmaster was in fact a dungeon mistress - which puts you and yours in a rather low grade.

   • 2010 September 25, Alice Raizel, “much appreciation to David for several rulebooks”, in Carnelian‎^[3] (Google Groups), archived from the original on 22 November 2025:

     Thanks to David, the dungeon mistress now has an electronic copy of the following items: D&D 3.5 Player's Handbook […]

   • 2011 June 3, Transremaxculver, “For Trans (off topic)”, in alt.religion.scientology‎^[4] (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 November 2025:

     I confess I was A D+D player, which I guess suggests that I couldn't wait for High end fantasy gaming and had to use dice. I got very heavily into being a dungeon mistress, but that sort of slipped away after I started using it as a therapeutic tool with a particular child who, was obsessed with war death and mayhem.