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leading lady

American  
[lee-ding] / ˈli dɪŋ /

noun

  1. an actress who plays the principal female role in a motion picture or play.

Etymology

Origin of leading lady

First recorded in 1870–75

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.

Born in Lincolnshire, Joan Plowright became a leading lady in London's West End in the 1950s.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025

Crawford’s rise from chorus line to leading lady was driven by the actress’s commitment to her movie-star dreams.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

At 19, she was a Broadway leading lady in "Next to Normal."

From Salon • Apr. 17, 2025

Born in Scunthorpe, she became a leading lady in London's West End in the 1950s, and first appeared opposite Olivier in The Entertainer at the Royal Court in 1957.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2025

We’ll take the leading lady first, who, I believe, would prefer to be briefly described as a languid, sophisticated type.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

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.