dame
noun
(in Britain)
dame
American
[deym]
/ deɪm /
noun
-
dames
plural
-
(initial capital letter) (in Britain)
-
the official title of a female member of the Order of the British Empire, equivalent to that of a knight.
-
the official title of the wife of a knight or baronet.
-
-
(formerly) a form of address to any woman of rank or authority.
-
a matronly woman of advanced age; matron.
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Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman.
Some dame cut me off and almost caused an accident.
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Ecclesiastical. a title of a nun in certain orders.
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a mistress of a dame-school.
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Archaic. the mistress of a household.
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Archaic. a woman of rank or authority, especially a female ruler.
dame
1
British
/ deɪm /
noun
-
(formerly) a woman of rank or dignity; lady
-
a nun who has taken the vows of her order, esp a Benedictine
-
archaic a matronly or elderly woman
-
slang a woman
-
Also called: pantomime dame. the role of a comic old woman in a pantomime, usually played by a man
Dame
2
British
/ deɪm /
noun
-
the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry
-
the legal title of the wife or widow of a knight or baronet, placed before her name Compare Lady
Dame Judith
Sensitive Note
Dame is sometimes perceived as insulting when used to refer generally to a woman, unless it is a woman of rank or advanced age.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dame
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin domina, feminine of dominus lord, master
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.
See Examples For:
She was a made a dame in 2014 for services to the arts and charity.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
The “grand dame diva of culture, divahood and porcine glamour” Miss Piggy, was honored at the show, where she showed up, naturally, in a pink dress and feather boa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
A true Welsh icon, Bassey was made a dame in 1999 for her services to entertainment.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
She was made a dame in 2009, and has also acted as a senior adviser to the British government and the United Nations on artificial intelligence.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
The enigma then was explained: this affable and kind little widow was no great dame; but a dependent like myself.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2016, Linden moved to Sacramento, Calif., and started working.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Forty years later, his son, Zachary, was a star basketball player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Miles, who starred at Notre Dame before playing a season at TCU, was drafted by the Lynx second overall behind former UConn star Azzi Fudd—a choice that already looks like a steal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Then Mike Stanton, now known as Giancarlo Stanton, showed up at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and by his senior year in 2007, he was All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The record was one of the first she’d ever bought, when at last Clara and she had moved into the Grand Dame and got a record player of their own.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
West, one of the grande dames of the movement, got her start at Seattle alt-weekly the Stranger and spent years excoriating fatphobia, online misogyny, and male entitlement for the ur-millennial-feminist site Jezebel.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026
Until her death last year, Helen Vendler was one of the grandes dames of American letters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
"She's certainly one of the grande dames in Scotland," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2025
Movies: Olivier’s widow could be playing grand dames on stage, but she likes the travel and money from matriarchal characters in films.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025
That when dames had dandruff, it was often just flakes from their hairspray.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
