as in dowager
a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority
the city's grandes dames still hold considerable sway in its cultural life
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Recent Examples of grande dame
LuPone is Broadway’s reigning grande dame, with a big voice and an even bigger mouth.
—
Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 26 May 2025
Usually that matriarch, Ranevskaya is the play’s magnetic center, a grande dame whose efforts to come to terms with her world’s downfall embody the changes brewing in an entire society.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
Before Mary Berry and Prue Leith, there was Fanny Cradock…
The original grande dame of English cookery television, Cradock swept onto screens in the 1950s with theatrical flair.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2025
The city’s undisputed grande dame with some of the city’s best service
From $590
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Opened in 1928 by Asia’s oldest hotel brand, the Peninsula Hong Kong is one of the city’s most historic properties.
—Mary Holland, AFAR Media, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for grande dame
Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 26 May 2025
Usually that matriarch, Ranevskaya is the play’s magnetic center, a grande dame whose efforts to come to terms with her world’s downfall embody the changes brewing in an entire society.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
Before Mary Berry and Prue Leith, there was Fanny Cradock…
The original grande dame of English cookery television, Cradock swept onto screens in the 1950s with theatrical flair.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2025
The city’s undisputed grande dame with some of the city’s best service
From $590
Book now
Opened in 1928 by Asia’s oldest hotel brand, the Peninsula Hong Kong is one of the city’s most historic properties.
—Mary Holland, AFAR Media, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for grande dame
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grande dame
Noun
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The show’s underpinned by the differences in character and country of Lady Cora and her formidable mother-in-law, the dowager Countess Violet Crawley, played by the equally formidable and much missed Dame Maggie Smith.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
22 July 2025
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The empress dowager’s legacy Empress Dowager Ling was largely unsuccessful in her bid for power.—
Stephanie Balkwill,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2025
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
“Grande dame.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grande%20dame. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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