drag queen
noun
plural drag queens
: a person and especially a man who performs as an entertainer in usually female drag (see drag entry 3 sense 2a)
Drag queens, who are traditionally male, dress in "drag" as female characters.—
Laura Wavra
Laura WavraFor the past decade, (basically since RuPaul started Drag Race) traditional drag queens (ie, cis men performing as female characters) have been blowing up in the popular zeitgeist …—Brittany Knupper
Brittany KnupperDrag is not simply female impersonation, but involves drag queens exaggerating femininity and drag kings exaggerating masculinity.—Shannon Kelly
Shannon Kelly[Victoria] Sin is a female-bodied non-binary drag queen, examining how Western ideals of femininity are produced and consumed.—Amrou Al-Kadhi
Amrou Al-KadhiThey are a black, non-binary drag queen with a beard in a part of the country that has a reputation for being anti-LGBTQ+.—Bailey Shelton
Bailey SheltonExamples of drag queen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Tammie Brown Making sense of drag queen Tammie Brown's wacky mind is a fool's errand — and yet, RuPaul casting her to help launch the inaugural season of Drag Race seems an obvious choice, in hindsight, within the Drag Race fantasy.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
The family of drag queen The Vivienne has gone public with the late performer’s cause of death.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2025
On the surface, Trump is blaming his takeover effort on recent Kennedy Center’s events that featured drag queens.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 12 Feb. 2025
John Leguizamo is looking back on the gamble openly straight costars Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes took playing drag queens in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!
—John Russell, People.com, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drag queen
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ew Staff, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
The family of drag queen The Vivienne has gone public with the late performer’s cause of death.
—Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2025
On the surface, Trump is blaming his takeover effort on recent Kennedy Center’s events that featured drag queens.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 12 Feb. 2025
John Leguizamo is looking back on the gamble openly straight costars Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes took playing drag queens in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!
—John Russell, People.com, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drag queen
Cite this Entry
“Drag queen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drag%20queen. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share