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

Cutoff tanks that pay homage to drag queen icon Naomi Smalls, The Hex Girls, and Girl in Red alike (IYKYK), artful crochet textures, Buffy the Vampire Slayer football jerseys, and so much more. —Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 1 June 2026

Patagonia alleged Pattie Gonia violated the agreement by selling merchandise, and the complaint includes email correspondence between the parties in 2025, in which the company reminded the drag queen their agreement prohibits the commercialization of the Pattie Gonia name. —Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Critics of drag queen story times argue that the events are inappropriate for children and don’t belong in public settings because of concerns around sexualization and grooming. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 1 June 2026

Sashay on the coast with drag queens at this loud, proud celebration. —Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 30 May 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