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tiger mother

American  
[tahy-ger muhth-er] / ˈtaɪ gər ˌmʌð ər /
Informal, tiger mom

noun

  1. a strict mother, especially an East Asian, who demands academic excellence and obedience from her children.


tiger mother British  

noun

  1. a very strict mother who demands that her children reach a high level of achievement

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tiger mother

Term popularized by Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother , title of a book (2011) by Amy Chua (born 1962)

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:

Wu plays the matriarch and tiger mother par excellence Jessica Huang, a spirited and indefensibly blunt woman whose fierce devotion to her children is matched only by her uncompromising expectations for them.

From The New Yorker Sep. 16, 2019

Connor was a far-fetched feminist figure because her power was concentrated in her ambivalent maternal love – like a hypothetical tiger mother, which doesn’t do a huge amount for female agency.

From The Guardian Jun. 5, 2017

Christine Sherrill, who stars in “The Fix” as a pushy, political tiger mother, was backstage at the time, preparing to make an entrance stage right.

From Washington Post Aug. 18, 2015

When the cubs reach six months, the training begins, although a tiger mother isn’t the taskmaster Chua seems to be.

From Slate May 10, 2013

It involved the kinds of relentless drills that would have made a tiger mother proud.

From BusinessWeek May 5, 2011

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