Cordelia

American  

[kawr-deel-yuh] / kɔrˈdil yə /

noun

1. (in Shakespeare'sKing Lear ) the youngest of Lear's three daughters and the only one who remains loyal to her father.

2. a female given name.

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Cordelia Cultural  

1. The youngest of the king's three daughters in the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare. King Lear at first thinks her ungrateful to him because she refuses to flatter him as her sisters do; he soon finds out that she is the only one of the three who genuinely cares for him.

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Example Sentences

In our alleged golden age of TV, comedy has been Cordelia, the disenfranchised child of a grim medium.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Walter and Cordelia Knott had a problem on their hands: Their fried-chicken restaurant was a massive success.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

When he took on the role of King Lear in his 80s, in Sir Richard Eyre's 2018 film, Lear's words to his daughter Cordelia struck a painful chord.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2025

But Cordelia is an obsessive birdwatcher, and that always comes first — even at night.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 2025

They tell Cordelia there are some things she’s too young to understand, and then they tell these things to her anyway.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood