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

The drag queens dance in the shortest skirts of all, way beyond micro-mini. —Amy Virshup, Vulture, 14 May 2025

For most younger folks, the appearance of a drag queen offers the chance to hoot and holler, to have fun and show some support. —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2025

While the other Chi Chi is a fictional drag queen (played by John Leguizamo) from the 1995 film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! —Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 3 May 2025

Speaking to Deadline just before sales launched at MIPCOM, Dunning said a decade ago a series about drag queens in the north east of England may have struggled to get a greenlight, but shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race have cleared a path. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1941, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for drag queen

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