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
For 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
Drag is not simply female impersonation, but involves drag queens exaggerating femininity and drag kings exaggerating masculinity.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
They 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

Examples of drag queen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Rising through a manhole in the middle of a dark New York alley populated with drag queens and the colorful characters of Lower Manhattan, the ever-blond Carpenter sank into her daffy-meets-sultry routine. Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 8 Sep. 2025 She was joined by dancers and famous drag queens, like Denali and Lexi Love, some of whom held up picket signs supporting trans rights. Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025 Around her, dancers and drag queens held up signs with messages of trans solidarity on them. Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 8 Sep. 2025 Trans people and drag queens joined Carpenter at the UBS Arena for the performance that saw the singer have a dance break in the rain. Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for drag queen

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drag queen was circa 1941

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Cite this Entry

“Drag queen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drag%20queen. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

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