queen
noun
a female sovereign or monarch.
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queen
1 American
[kween]
/ kwin /
noun
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queens
plural
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a female sovereign or monarch.
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the wife or consort of a king.
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a woman, or something personified as a woman, that is foremost or preeminent in any respect.
a movie queen; a beauty queen; Athens, the queen of the Aegean.
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Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a term used to refer to a gay man, especially one who is flamboyantly campy or effeminate.
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a playing card bearing a picture of a queen.
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Chess. the most powerful piece of either color, moved across any number of empty squares in any direction.
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Entomology. a fertile female ant, bee, termite, or wasp.
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a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Q.
verb (used without object)
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queens,
present (3rd person singular)
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queened,
past participle, past
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queening
present participle
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to reign as queen.
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to behave in an imperious or pretentious manner (usually followed byit ).
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Chess. to become promoted to a queen.
Queen
2
American
[kween]
/ kwin /
noun
queen
1
British
/ kwiːn /
noun
-
a female sovereign who is the official ruler or head of state
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the wife or widow of a king
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a woman or a thing personified as a woman considered the best or most important of her kind
a beauty queen
the queen of ocean liners
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slang an effeminate male homosexual
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the only fertile female in a colony of social insects, such as bees, ants, and termites, from the eggs of which the entire colony develops
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( as modifier )
a queen bee
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an adult female cat
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one of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a queen
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a chess piece, theoretically the most powerful piece, able to move in a straight line in any direction or diagonally, over any number of squares
verb
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chess to promote (a pawn) to a queen when it reaches the eighth rank
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(tr) to crown as queen
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informal (intr) (of a gay man) to flaunt one's homosexuality
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(intr) to reign as queen
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informal (often foll by over) to behave in an overbearing manner
Queen
2
British
/ kwiːn /
noun
Sensitive Note
The term queen is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting when in reference to a gay man, especially one considered to be effeminate or flamboyant. However, within the gay community, it is sometimes used in a friendly, teasing, or facetious manner, and can also be a positive term of self-reference.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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queensimple
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queenssimple
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have queenedperfect
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has queenedperfect
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am queeningprogressive
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are queeningprogressive
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is queeningprogressive
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have been queeningperfect progressive
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has been queeningperfect progressive
Past
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queenedsimple
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had queenedperfect
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was queeningprogressive
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were queeningprogressive
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had been queeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of queen
First recorded before 900; Middle English quene, quen, Old English cwēn “woman, queen”; cognate with Old Saxon quān, Old Norse kvān, Gothic qēns, from unattested Germanic kwēni-; akin to Old Irish ben, Greek gynḗ woman, Russian zhená, Sanskrit jani “wife”
Explanation
In a monarchy, a queen is the female ruler of the country. Whether you are the Queen of England or the queen of a honey bee colony, you are the female in charge. A queen inherits the title and the job, either from her father (the king) or her mother (the queen). Sometimes the term "queen consort" is used for a king's wife — in this case, the queen isn't the ruler, but merely married to the guy in charge. Many fairs, festivals, and other events crown an honorary queen, so you might be crowned the butter queen at the state fair. There's a queen in chess, the most powerful piece on the board, and a deck of cards has four queens. The most important bee in a colony is also a queen.
Vocabulary lists containing queen
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.
See Examples For:
Police on Sunday cleared the last major migrant encampment in Ceuta, two days before a visit by Spain's king and queen, AFP reporters at the scene and the interior ministry said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
"Claudiapatra!" gasped model and actress Jerry Hall - spotting similarities in both grandeur and hairstyles between Claudia and Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
In other words, the kind of behavior that befits a queen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t the only scream queen around here,” Hargitay quipped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
More time with Harriet, the queen of fun.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
It then became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, the wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and then her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
The King, Queen and Prince of Wales will visit Aberfan, in Merthyr Tydfil county, next week to mark the anniversary, following on from the late Queen Elizabeth who visited Aberfan eight times.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
This historic 19th century royal jewelry set featuring fine Ceylon sapphires, diamonds and gold, famously associated with Queen Hortense and Queen Marie-Amélie, was partially stolen in the Musée du Louvre heist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The discovery, detailed in a study published in Science Advances, came from physicist Kostya Trachenko at Queen Mary University of London.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Shadow Queen stepped between them and Glory.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
David Starkey’s account of Henry VIII’s reign takes us, day by day, from Greenwich and Westminster to Hampton Court, alongside Henry and his successive queens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The revisionist approach of “Six Wives” has traveled beyond a scholarly audience: Portraits of the queens such as those in Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s musical “Six” owe much to Mr. Starkey’s perspective.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
"It's a lot of effort to go on Drag Race, a lot of investment and emotional labour," they added, "so I hope the audience follows and keeps supporting the queens."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
“All those drag queens, sometimes I see some of them look more like me than I do,” said the star, who famously lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
She liked the parts about how the Kennedys were like kings and queens in America and how tragedy followed anyone named Kennedy.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Rxa8, and White soon to be queened pawn will help deliver checkmates in a couple of moves.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
Always Una St. Clair had queened it over the boys, teased them, petted them, scolded them.
From The Northern Iron by George A. Birmingham
She queened it over demesnes of sprite-like revelry; the life they led was sylvan; at their fêtes the sun assisted.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 37, November, 1860 by Various
The young head of Pemrose Lorry queened it in the darkness, with a pride which made of old Greylock, at that moment, the world’s throne.
From Pemrose Lorry, Camp Fire Girl by Isabel Katherine Hornibrook
After M. Radisson had quieted turbulent spirits by a reading of holy lessons, Mistress Hortense queened it over our table of a Sunday at noon.
From Heralds of Empire Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut
Qxh7 picks off the piece while retaining control of the b1 queening square.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
Black’s bishop pair and passed queenside pawns make the win more difficult, but Short navigates the tactical shoals to bring home the point while keeping the Black b-pawn from queening.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
Bb6!, and now the White a-pawn has a clear path to the queening square.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 10, 2021
There would have been no Elton John, queening in front of millions, or David Bowie, who freely credited Little Richard’s inspiration.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2020
See how she is queening it in General Tryron's fine mansion.
From A Song of a Single Note A Love Story by Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
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