drag queen
Americannoun
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drag queens
plural
noun
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a male who dresses as a woman and impersonates female characteristics for public entertainment
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slang a male transvestite
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of drag queen
First recorded in 1960–65; drag (in the sense “wearing clothes characteristic with a different sex”) + queen (in the sense “flamboyantly effeminate gay man”)
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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.
In Seattle's Ballard district, a drag queen was wielding a microphone and putting on a show ahead of the World Cup meeting of Iran and Egypt.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Last year, the drag queen raised $1 million by hiking 100 miles from Point Reyes to San Francisco.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Shahniani doesn’t perform as a drag queen, but he enjoys dressing up as ’Naynay for different events and theme park visits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
“The way that conservatives were talking about it, I thought it was going to be drag queen story hour. At one point we were the Trolls,” Fuentes said on his show Tuesday.
From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2026
Lindsey’s mom knew a guy, Chuck, who was a drag queen, Chastity St. Claire, and Lindsey had seen him perform at a charity thing.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
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.
