Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

drag queen

American  
[drag kween] / ˈdræg ˌkwin /

noun

Slang.

  1. a performer, typically one who was assigned male at birth, whose act involves a stylized and exaggerated interpretation of femininity that plays with stereotypical gender themes.

drag queen British  

noun

  1. a male who dresses as a woman and impersonates female characteristics for public entertainment

  2. slang a male transvestite

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
drag queen Idioms  

  1. A male transvestite; also, a female impersonator. For example, He was surprised to find out that Roxanne was actually a drag queen. This term uses the slang noun drag in the sense of “female attire worn by a man” (a usage dating from about 1870; also see in drag). [Offensive slang; c. 1940]

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”)

Compare meaning

How does drag-queen compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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.

Radebe told the BBC's One Show he could not wait to make his West End debut as Lola, the drag queen who inspired Charlie Price's business pivot.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 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

The line also sounds remarkably comfortable coming out of the mouth of a drag queen — one of the many sides of shade served in the generously funny and sharp “Queens of the Dead.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2025

Trixie Mattel, the adored drag queen DJ, perhaps said it best during her set at Saturday’s installment of the “Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things” tour.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025

Pearl and Moody, looking on in bemusement, didn’t even glance at the screen, and Lexie had interrupted before Trip was halfway through his case for the drag queen.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

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.