grande dame
Americannoun
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a usually elderly woman of dignified or aristocratic bearing.
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a woman who is the doyenne of a specific field.
a grande dame of the American theater.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grande dame
1735–45; < French: literally, great lady
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.
Today’s glass and steel tower over the bones of what was once the grande dame of colonial luxury, the Hong Kong Hotel.
From Salon • Jul. 12, 2025
And what kind of relationship will he have with Megawati Sukarnoputri, the grande dame of Indonesian politics and leader of the largest party, the PDIP?
From BBC • Feb. 15, 2024
Mrs. Bohm created a vast body of photographs, in the process becoming a grande dame of the art form, before she died at 98 on March 15 at a care facility in Northwest London.
From New York Times • May 4, 2023
“She was the grande dame of letters in Los Angeles for decades,” said author, critic and Jewish Journal book editor Jonathan Kirsch.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2023
A tasteful awning hung over the entrance, bearing the silhouette of a Parisian grande dame.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
