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Showing results for leading lady. Search instead for Pleading guilty.
Synonyms

leading lady

American  
[lee-ding] / ˈli dɪŋ /

noun

  1. an actress who plays the principal female role in a motion picture or play.

Etymology

Origin of leading lady

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And I think, for me as an artist, this will probably be the only time in my life where I get to play a leading lady and a leading man at the same time.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

"I thought I'll get into the back seat beside the son's friend, but oh no the leading lady has to sit in the front seat," she continued.

From BBC • Dec. 8, 2025

They are handed an envelope from Santa containing a letter from a viewer asking how he can show his "leading lady" he loves her through food.

From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025

Crawford’s rise from chorus line to leading lady was driven by the actress’s commitment to her movie-star dreams.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

Meanwhile, Booth passes within inches of leading lady Laura Keene as he limps off the stage.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

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.