diva

noun

di·​va ˈdē-və How to pronounce diva (audio)
plural divas or dive ˈdē-(ˌ)vā How to pronounce diva (audio)
1
b
: prima donna sense 2
… if a team asks me to play somewhere else, I'm not going to be a diva about it.Ettore Lattanzio
2
: a usually glamorous and successful female performer or personality (see personality sense 4b)
a fashion diva
especially : a popular female singer
pop divas
The original diva and Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin, appears to have brought US President Barack Obama to tears (and then to his feet) with a stellar performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural WomanTom Williams

Examples of diva in a Sentence

the reigning diva of daytime television
Recent Examples on the Web Check out Maria Callas, opera’s defining diva; the genre-spanning genius of Mozart; and 21st-century composers like Caroline Shaw and Thomas Adès. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023 Andrea Bocelli made an appearance — and the 2023 person of the year was none other than the multilingual Italian diva, LGBTQ+ advocate and philanthropist Laura Pausini. Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2023 The pop diva was spotted giving classic glam rock in Los Angeles on November 14. Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 15 Nov. 2023 The diva’s memoir is, by definition, a somewhat delusional form, in that its author lives in a very different world from the rest of us, and has a different sense of scale. Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2023 That same year, the don diva turned head with a pink, sharp blunt bang at the MTV Music Awards held in New York City. Essence Beauty Editors, Essence, 10 Nov. 2023 Staying in 📖 Love affairs, the diva thing and that nose: Takeaways from Barbra Streisand’s huge memoir. Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2023 Publisher Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, first announced the pop diva’s memoir last year in the aftermath of 2021’s explosive re-contextualization of Spears’s experience in the public eye and the end of her conservatorship. Zoe Guy, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2023 At the time, Deadline reported her role is a sweet but shy singer with a magical voice who must rise above the jealous, evil pop diva Rose Stellar. Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 27 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'diva.' 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

Italian, literally, goddess, from Latin, feminine of divus divine, god — more at deity

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of diva was in 1883

Dictionary Entries Near diva

Cite this Entry

“Diva.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diva. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

diva

noun
di·​va ˈdē-və How to pronounce diva (audio)
plural divas or dive -ˌvā How to pronounce diva (audio)
1
2
: a usually glamorous and successful female performer or celebrity
a fashion diva
especially : a popular female singer
pop divas
Etymology

from Italian diva "goddess," from Latin diva (same meaning)

More from Merriam-Webster on diva

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