prima donna

American  

[pree-muh don-uh, prim-uh, pree-mah dawn-nah] / ˌpri mə ˈdɒn ə, ˌprɪm ə, ˈpri mɑ ˈdɔn nɑ /

noun

prima donnas, plural prime donne plural

1. a first or principal female singer of an opera company.

2. a temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience.

---

prima donna British  

/ ˈpriːmə ˈdɒnə /

noun

1. a female operatic star; diva

2. informal a temperamental person

---

prima donna Cultural  

1. A vain and overly sensitive person who is temperamental and difficult to work with: “That Jenkins girl is a good gymnast, but she certainly is a prima donna.” In opera, the prima donna is the principal female soloist. From Italian, meaning “first lady.”

---

Usage

What does prima donna mean? The literal meaning of prima donna is the lead or main female singer in an opera company. Prima donna is commonly used as a negative term for a person who’s extremely self-centered and temperamental. In this sense, a prima donna expects and demands constant praise and special treatment and is easily irritated when they don’t get it. Though the literal sense of prima donna refers only to women, its figurative sense can be applied to anyone. The plural of prima donna is prima donnas (though the plural of the Italian phrase is prime donne). Example: After the director had a fight with his lead actor, he accused him of being a selfish prima donna who was impossible to work with.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• prime donne
  plural
• prima donnas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prima donna

First recorded in 1760–70; from Italian: literally, “first lady”; see prime, duenna

Example Sentences

Starring Vanessa Williams as the titular prima donna, the brilliantly named Ebony Scrooge, the film follows Ebony’s transformation from penny-pinching pop star to charitable altruist.

From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025

But Knight, Larraín, and Jolie are all careful to avoid reducing Callas to an over-the-top ableist stereotype or portraying her as the ruthless prima donna tigress the media painted her as.

From Salon • Sep. 28, 2024

In the Putin years, she has remained a staple on state television; state-run Channel 1 offered wall-to-wall coverage of her 70th birthday in 2019, calling her the “the prima donna of the national stage.”

From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2022

But Mira turns out to be far less of a prima donna than her fellow actors, as Vikander’s subtle, sensitive performance gradually reveals.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2022

She knew they all thought she was just a spoiled prima donna who didn’t know anything about music.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar

Related Words

• crybaby