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.

—Lauren 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

Earlier this year, Patagonia sued a drag queen and environmental activist performing under the name Pattie Gonia in a trademark dispute, and the feud is quickly becoming a PR headache for the eco-friendly apparel brand. —Phil Wahba, Fortune, 15 June 2026

And that brings us to the San Francisco Giants, which held their obligatory Pride Night on Friday by having 10 gay couples renew their vows in a pregame ceremony that included having a drag queen along the first base line. —Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026

Be on the lookout for San Francisco drag queen Lady Camden in a small role. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 11 June 2026

In showcasing the comedy and entertainment skills of drag queens, rather than the lip-syncing talents most people might be familiar with, the movie in effect asks critics of drag what exactly is so scary about a bunch of glamorous clowns. —David MacK, CNN Money, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1941, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for drag queen

• acridine
• acrolein
• adenine
• alkylene
• aniline
• anthracene
• aquiline
• asphaltene
• atlantean
• atrazine
• butadiene
• butylene