as in matron
a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority
the town's dowagers frequently shake their heads over the younger generation
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Recent Examples of dowager
Monti is the foundation’s current director, its one-person advisory panel, its entertainment committee, its auction-house fund-raiser and its dowager guiding light.
—
Laura Rysman, New York Times, 16 Dec. 2023
Thrones pushed the Emmy drama race out of its era of dowager countesses and troubled men and into one where robots and demogorgons could at least have a shot.
—Esther Zuckerman, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2023
From the artists of Washington Square to the dowagers and doormen of the Upper East Side was a cultural distance as great as any trip from Nebraska to New York.
—Jeff MacGregor, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 June 2023
Throughout British history, there have been numerous queens dowager who were not queen mothers, including Joan of Navarre, the second wife of King Henry IV and stepmother to King Henry V, and Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII and stepmother to King Edward VI.
—Town & Country, 4 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for dowager
Laura Rysman, New York Times, 16 Dec. 2023
Thrones pushed the Emmy drama race out of its era of dowager countesses and troubled men and into one where robots and demogorgons could at least have a shot.
—Esther Zuckerman, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2023
From the artists of Washington Square to the dowagers and doormen of the Upper East Side was a cultural distance as great as any trip from Nebraska to New York.
—Jeff MacGregor, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 June 2023
Throughout British history, there have been numerous queens dowager who were not queen mothers, including Joan of Navarre, the second wife of King Henry IV and stepmother to King Henry V, and Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII and stepmother to King Edward VI.
—Town & Country, 4 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for dowager
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dowager
matron
Noun
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Historians have long debated which pioneer in the field of women’s policing holds the title of the U.S.’s first policewoman, as opposed to police matron.—
Peter Zablocki,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 Mar. 2025
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Mary Thema, a clinical matron at Kadoma General Hospital, says Kelly’s case underlines this challenge.—
Cynthia Tully,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dowager.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dowager. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.
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