passenger princess

What does passenger princess mean?

Passenger princess is a playful slang term for a woman driven around by someone else (especially by her male partner), in an affectionate manner as she rides comfortably. It sometimes refers to the driver and other passengers enjoying themselves, too.

Examples of passenger princess

I’m a “Passenger Princess” when it comes to making dinner… he’s in charge while I watch, help (judge) and drink my drink.
—@danabrittanyw, Threads, 3 Oct. 2024

Whether it’s catching up on work, reading a book, applying makeup, catching up on emails, or just enjoying a moment of downtime, the passenger princess prioritizes her time and comfort over the act of driving.
—Jana Askeland, A Girls Guide to Cars, 21 May 2024

The prerequisite to being a successful passenger princess is to be good on aux [music] and to always have banger playlists. It is your job to keep the driver awake and everyone else in the car hyped up.
—Yukana Inoue, The Los Angeles Loyolan, 1 May 2023

Where does passenger princess come from?

First seen in a tweet in 2020, passenger princess spread on social media in the early 2020s, especially on TikTok in spring and summer 2023. The phrase combines passenger, referring to the passenger seat of a car, and princess, used in the sense of a woman who likes or expects to be spoiled and pampered.

In 2023, a popular TikTok trend involved videos where women showed themselves posing as passenger princesses. The videos humorously showed a number of women getting comfortable, drinking a beverage, scrolling her phone, and having her partner hold her hand or put his hand on her leg. Other videos joked about duties expected of the passenger princess, such as deejaying music, providing directions, and ensuring the driver is at ease. Parodies of and riffs on the trend ensued. In summer 2024, pop singer Nessa Barrett released a song called “Passenger Princess,” helping thrust the term into mainstream attention and use.

How is passenger princess used?

Women in traditional relationships are not the only people, of course, who can be passenger princesses, although the term is predominantly used for that situation. A parent being driven by a child with a newly minted driver license, for example, might be described by the phrase. Sometimes, people refer to pets, children, or other precious cargo in their cars using the term. Other times, someone who can’t drive, because they lack a license, or choose not to is called a passenger princess. Its male equivalent is a passenger prince.

On social media, the phrase is widely encountered as a caption for selfies, especially as taken in the passenger seat of cars, of women who are or want to be treated as passenger princesses. While the phrase is widely used for women who want to be pampered by “their man,” it is also commonly used of a rider in the passenger seat making sure everyone else in the car is happy, especially by putting good music on. By extension, people can also be passenger princesses in other contexts where they get to kick back and let others do all the work.