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

---

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

Some viewers will undoubtedly want Evelyn to go through a greater conversion, to transform from tiger mother to cool American mom.

From Washington Post • May 4, 2022

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

That is, unless you were raised by a tiger mother, that demanding type of mom celebrated in Amy Chua’s 2011 best-seller.

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