plural queens
1
a
: the wife or widow of a king
b
: the wife or widow of a tribal chief
2
a
: a female monarch
b
: a female chieftain
3
a
: a woman eminent in rank, power, or attractions
a movie queen
b
: a goddess or a thing personified as female and having supremacy in a specified realm
c
: an attractive girl or woman
especially
: a beauty contest winner
4
: the most privileged piece of each color in a set of chessmen having the power to move in any direction across any number of unoccupied squares
5
: a playing card marked with a stylized figure of a queen
6
: the fertile fully developed female of social bees, wasps, ants, and termites whose function is to lay eggs
7
: a mature female cat kept especially for breeding
8
slang, often disparaging
: a gay man
especially
: an effeminate one
9
queened; queening; queens
1
: to act like a queen
especially
: to put on airs
—usually used with it
queens it over her friends
2
: to become a queen in chess
the pawn queens
: to promote (a pawn) to a queen in chess
Synonyms
Examples of queen in a Sentence
Noun
She was crowned queen of England.
the reign of Queen Elizabeth
the king and his queen
the queen of the blues
She was voted queen of the prom.
This ship is the queen of all the ocean liners.
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Recent Examples on the Web
David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 July 2017
THE TRENDSETTER Salt & Straw is the homecoming queen of ice cream in LA.
—Cole Kazdin, Los Angeles Magazine, 14 July 2017
One archetypal medieval gown in deep ultramarine velvet had structured straps diagonally across the bust, leading the eye down to floor length slit sleeves — styles worn by queens in court.
—Thomas Adamson, The Seattle Times, 5 July 2017
And then there's a forthcoming new album with his band The Good, The Band & The Queen that features the Clash's Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen.
—Dan Hyman, chicagotribune.com, 5 July 2017
Kings, queens and governments from around the world contributed bulbs, plants and statuary representing their country's culture, such as a Chinese bridge, and woodcarvings from Norway.
—Joan Dittmann, Post-Tribune, 5 July 2017
Leanne is running out of money to pay for her dream of making her 11-year-old daughter, Patty (Ursula Parker), a pageant queen.
—Rick Bentley, kansascity.com, 5 July 2017
Shawl: Tru Blue silk queen kimono, $242, Planet Blue.
—star-telegram.com, 5 July 2017
Imagine one person tells you that his ideal form of government would be to get rid of the Constitution and make Kim Kardashian queen.
—Jonah Goldberg, National Review, 5 July 2017
San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2023
The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards may be giving its crown jewel — the Video Vanguard Award — to queen Nicki Minaj.
—Sarah Grant, SPIN, 28 Aug. 2022
This approach exposes queen bees to inactive Paenibacillus larvae bacteria, which helps larvae hatched in the hive to resist infection.
—Jennie L. Durant, The Conversation, 20 Jan. 2023
The rest of us got to see that bond play out in real time on November 26, when Aussie queen Nicole Kidman donated $100,000 to Broadway Cares during a curtain call for The Music Man led by her countryman Hugh Jackman.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 28 Nov. 2022
The awards show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was co-hosted by Luke Bryan and NFL legend Peyton Manning and opened on a somber but celebratory tribute to the late country queen Loretta Lynn.
—Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2022
The white Mardi Gras queen that year was Helen Meaher of the Meaher family in Descendent, which is the family that brought the last slave ship to America on a bet almost 50 years after the slave trade was abolished.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Oct. 2022
People even flocked to Twitter to show the country queen some love.
—Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 10 Mar. 2022
The award show's account even wished the country queen a happy birthday with some throwback photos of Dolly's iconic looks throughout the years.
—Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 8 Feb. 2022
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Noun
While Jon is bound to leadership by a sense of duty, Daenerys sees herself as a liberator, a queen steeped in moral righteousness who freed slaves across the sea for the greater good.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 July 2017
THE TRENDSETTER Salt & Straw is the homecoming queen of ice cream in LA.
—Cole Kazdin, Los Angeles Magazine, 14 July 2017
One archetypal medieval gown in deep ultramarine velvet had structured straps diagonally across the bust, leading the eye down to floor length slit sleeves — styles worn by queens in court.
—Thomas Adamson, The Seattle Times, 5 July 2017
And then there's a forthcoming new album with his band The Good, The Band & The Queen that features the Clash's Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen.
—Dan Hyman, chicagotribune.com, 5 July 2017
Kings, queens and governments from around the world contributed bulbs, plants and statuary representing their country's culture, such as a Chinese bridge, and woodcarvings from Norway.
—Joan Dittmann, Post-Tribune, 5 July 2017
Leanne is running out of money to pay for her dream of making her 11-year-old daughter, Patty (Ursula Parker), a pageant queen.
—Rick Bentley, kansascity.com, 5 July 2017
Shawl: Tru Blue silk queen kimono, $242, Planet Blue.
—star-telegram.com, 5 July 2017
Imagine one person tells you that his ideal form of government would be to get rid of the Constitution and make Kim Kardashian queen.
—Jonah Goldberg, National Review, 5 July 2017
Verb
Within this process, Jemc discovered Elisabeth of Bavaria, nicknamed Sisi, who was Ludwig’s cousin, closest confidant and an empress and queen herself.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2023
The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards may be giving its crown jewel — the Video Vanguard Award — to queen Nicki Minaj.
—Sarah Grant, SPIN, 28 Aug. 2022
This approach exposes queen bees to inactive Paenibacillus larvae bacteria, which helps larvae hatched in the hive to resist infection.
—Jennie L. Durant, The Conversation, 20 Jan. 2023
The rest of us got to see that bond play out in real time on November 26, when Aussie queen Nicole Kidman donated $100,000 to Broadway Cares during a curtain call for The Music Man led by her countryman Hugh Jackman.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 28 Nov. 2022
The awards show at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was co-hosted by Luke Bryan and NFL legend Peyton Manning and opened on a somber but celebratory tribute to the late country queen Loretta Lynn.
—Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2022
The white Mardi Gras queen that year was Helen Meaher of the Meaher family in Descendent, which is the family that brought the last slave ship to America on a bet almost 50 years after the slave trade was abolished.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Oct. 2022
People even flocked to Twitter to show the country queen some love.
—Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 10 Mar. 2022
The award show's account even wished the country queen a happy birthday with some throwback photos of Dolly's iconic looks throughout the years.
—Chaise Sanders, Country Living, 8 Feb. 2022
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'queen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English quene, from Old English cwēn woman, wife, queen; akin to Goth qens wife, Greek gynē woman, Sanskrit jani
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1611, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of queen was
before the 12th century
Phrases Containing queen
Dictionary Entries Near queen
Cite this Entry
“Queen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/queen. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
queen
1 of 2 noun1
: the wife or widow of a king
2
: a woman who rules a kingdom in her own right
3
a
: a woman of supreme rank, power, or attractiveness
a society queen
b
: something thought of as female and being at the top in a particular field
queen of the ocean liners
4
: the most powerful piece in the game of chess
5
: a playing card bearing the figure of a queen
6
: the fertile fully developed female of social bees, ants, and termites whose purpose is to lay eggs
queen
2 of 2 verb1
: to act like a queen
especially
: put on airs
2
: to become or promote to a queen in chess
Etymology
Noun
Old English cwēn "woman, wife, queen"
More from Merriam-Webster on queen
Nglish: Translation of queen for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of queen for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about queen
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