(initial capital letter) Madam; Lady: an Italian title of respect prefixed to the given name of a woman.
an Italian lady.
1660–70; < Italian < Latin domina, feminine of dominus
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Starring Vanessa Williams as the titular prima donna, the brilliantly named Ebony Scrooge, the film follows Ebony’s transformation from penny-pinching pop star to charitable altruist.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
“La donna è mobile”? That’s about how milk squirts out your nose if you happen to laugh at exactly the wrong time.
From New York Times • May 5, 2023
On the back of such stories, Andrews was given a slew of lionising monikers: "prima donna in pigtails," "infant prodigy of trills," "the miracle voice" and "Britain's juvenile coloratura."
From Salon • Oct. 10, 2022
In the Putin years, she has remained a staple on state television; state-run Channel 1 offered wall-to-wall coverage of her 70th birthday in 2019, calling her the “the prima donna of the national stage.”
From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2022
“Is the prima donna ready to play now?”
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
