drag queen

noun

plural drag queens

: a person and especially a man who performs as an entertainer in usually female drag (see drag entry 1 sense 7b(1))

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

Homeless gay seniors reunite to revive their drag queen performances for fundraising. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Sep. 2024

Her judging duties also took Visage to Paramount+ for Queen of the Universe, the drag queen singing competition, on Ireland’s Got Talent and the U.K.’s Strictly Come Dancing competition reality series. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Aug. 2024

Although his kids have yet to attend a Drag Story Hour, Ferguson says that Beckett is fascinated by drag queens. —Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 12 Aug. 2024

Unfortunately, the portrayal of the Last Supper with drag queens and a grown man painted blue with his testicles hanging out while a child was onstage, also observed on live television by children and adults, is deeply troubling and offensive. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 31 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1941, in the meaning defined above