dragon lady

American  

noun

1. (often initial capital letters) a woman of somewhat sinister glamour often perceived as wielding ruthless or corrupt power.

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dragon lady Idioms  

1. A domineering or belligerent woman, as in They called her the neighborhood dragon lady—she was always yelling at the children. This slangy term was originally the name of a villainous Asian woman in Milton Caniff's popular cartoon strip Terry and the Pirates (1934–1973), which ran in many newspapers. It was transferred to more general use in the mid-1900s.

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Etymology

Origin of dragon lady

So called after the villainous Asian woman in the cartoon strip Terry and the Pirates (1934–1973) created by U.S. cartoonist Milton Caniff (1907–88)

Example Sentences

“Sara brought a level of intimacy with our audiences with her production of ‘Dragon Lady’ that we don’t want to let go of,” said McCraney, who remains committed to programming Porkalob’s entire trilogy for Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

She recalls the office as being “super glamorous, with colors and jewelry and scented candles,” and then “all of a sudden this dragon lady comes in, hair black, black, black, and red lipstick and red nails and a big cigarette holder.”

From Los Angeles Times

The story of her fight to keep her first daughter, whom she names Maria Elena, after herself, “her bittersweet joy,” represents the climax of the first half of “Dragon Lady.”

From Los Angeles Times

Three generations of women are assembled in Sara Porkalob’s “Dragon Lady,” the first in her three-part series of musicals about what she refers to as her “Filipina American gangster family.”

From Los Angeles Times

Frequent Comic-Con attendees, such as Jana Monji — a film critic and writer who goes by the nom de plume the Dragon Lady of Pasadena — said she wasn’t surprised that such an element might exist at one of these events.

From Los Angeles Times