A viscountess is either the wife of a viscount, or a woman who holds the rank of viscount in her own right. Both readings are live, and only context tells you which one you are looking at — though historically the first is far more common, because British titles usually passed to sons. Pronunciation follows viscount: "VY-count-ess", with the s of vis- silent. Say it wrong and the word becomes unrecognisable, so this is the part to drill. In use she is addressed as Lady plus the title — Viscountess Hereford is called Lady Hereford in speech. In writing, the full form appears on invitations, in newspapers, and in the formal lists of who attended what. The -ess ending puts this word in a group English is slowly moving away from — actress, waitress, stewardess have all lost ground to gender-neutral forms. Aristocratic titles are the exception: they are fixed by rules that predate that change and are still used exactly as before. So viscountess is not old-fashioned in the way "authoress" is; it is simply how the system names her. Like viscount, this is a recognition word for most learners — history, royal news, and costume drama.

子爵夫人；也可指本身擁有子爵爵位的女性。發音同 viscount，s 不發音，唸「VY-count-ess」。