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• dame
  dame

  noun

  (in Britain)
• Dame
  Dame

  noun

  the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry

dame

American  

[deym] / deɪm /

noun

dames plural

1. (initial capital letter) (in Britain)

   1. the official title of a female member of the Order of the British Empire, equivalent to that of a knight.

   2. the official title of the wife of a knight or baronet.

2. (formerly) a form of address to any woman of rank or authority.

3. a matronly woman of advanced age; matron.

4. Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman.

   Some dame cut me off and almost caused an accident.

5. Ecclesiastical. a title of a nun in certain orders.

6. a mistress of a dame-school.

7. Archaic. the mistress of a household.

8. Archaic. a woman of rank or authority, especially a female ruler.

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dame ¹ British  

/ deɪm /

noun

1. (formerly) a woman of rank or dignity; lady

2. a nun who has taken the vows of her order, esp a Benedictine

3. archaic a matronly or elderly woman

4. slang a woman

5. Also called: pantomime dame.  the role of a comic old woman in a pantomime, usually played by a man

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Dame ² British  

/ deɪm /

noun

1. the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry

2. the legal title of the wife or widow of a knight or baronet, placed before her name Compare Lady

   Dame Judith

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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

• dames
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dame

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin domina, feminine of dominus lord, master

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dame Dame dames

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

Twila is, in Hollywood parlance, a “firecracker” — you know, the tough-talking dame who inevitably nurses a wounded heart.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026

England boss Wiegman, who is Dutch, becomes an honorary dame after leading the Lionesses to successive European Women's Championship titles in 2022 and 2025.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

The pair said becoming a dame and a sir respectively was "wonderful and humbling at the same time".

From Barron's ● Dec. 29, 2025

“Just the dame school. For the younger children, in the summer months. With you to help me I can take more pupils.”

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

This year, they’ve upgraded their schedule, adding rival Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for a season-opening nonleague game Aug. 21.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

The event remains "hugely important to netball", World Netball president Dame Liz Nicholl told BBC Sport, pointing out over 150,000 tickets were sold for netball at Birmingham 2022.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

So in steps his protege, Chris O’Leary, who coached under him at Georgia State and Notre Dame before spending the 2024 season coaching Chargers safeties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Soon after, Home Affairs Committee Chair Dame Karen Bradley said the government was right to introduce digital ID but had botched the launch.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

When the lathes withdrew for coffee, Dame Hannah said, “Tell me, Lyra—are they going to send you to school?”

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Rugby league star Kevin Sinfield is knighted while children's authors Malorie Blackman and Julia Donaldson are made dames in the King's Birthday Honours.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

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

Mattie Ross is one of the toughest dames in American literature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

“Of course it’s daunting to be following in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, great dames both, but I’m also bubbling with excitement.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

But Chix Verbil’s ill-fated quest to impress the dames is, once again, another story.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer