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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”)

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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.

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

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

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.