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
Noun Inflected 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
I feel like Dame Edna wrote my book — some delusional grande dame who’s so funny.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025
Lange’s Lillian Hall is a theater grande dame playing the charismatic matriarch in a Broadway revival of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.”
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
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
C.P. was surprised when Elna Spaulding, wife of Asa T. Spaulding and the grande dame of the Mutual community, came through the door.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
