elder stateswoman

noun

1. an influential female citizen, often a retired high official, whose advice is sought by government leaders.

2. any influential female member of a company, group, etc., whose advice is respected.

Example Sentences

It has been a wide-open secret for years that Wiener wanted to make a run for federal office when or if Pelosi retired, but he’s also been deferential to the elder stateswoman of California politics and has made it equally clear that he would wait his turn in the brutal and parochial machine of San Francisco politics.

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At 36, she has completed the transition from wunderkind to elder stateswoman.

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This marked the beginning of the startling second act of Jackson’s musical career, as she became — among a certain set — an elder stateswoman of grungy thrash guitar.

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More than a decade and a half after her first mixtape, Minaj, 41, is an elder stateswoman: still a cantankerous figure in the genre, and still a sometime hitmaker.

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At her final World Cup, Rapinoe was the elder stateswoman on a team that had 14 players appearing for the first time in the tournament.

Read more on Seattle Times