First Lady

noun

variants or first lady

plural First Ladies or first ladies

1

: the wife or female partner of the chief executive of a country or jurisdiction

It is a reminder of just how peculiar the role of First Lady is in American public life. She has a job with no salary, a platform with no power, an East Wing filled with staff but no budget.

—Jonathan Van Meter

As a supermodel, singer-songwriter, and former first lady of France, no one has had a career quite like Carla Bruni. Since her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, left office in 2012, Bruni has focused on her music.

—Janelle Okwodu

also : someone who is not the wife or female partner of a chief executive but who fulfills the public duties of a First Lady

Unique among First Ladies, Harriet Lane acted as hostess for the only President who never married: James Buchanan, her favorite uncle and her guardian after she was orphaned at the age of eleven.

—Allida Black

2

: the leading woman of an art or profession

Back before Mobb Deep, before the whole Juice Crew, the first MC to blow up big out of the Bridge was hip hop's universally recognized First Lady, Roxanne Shanté.

—Sacha Jenkins

Carolyn Wells is the first lady of barbecue—alongside her late husband Gary Wells and friend Rick Welch, the three founded the Kansas City Barbeque Society in 1986.

—Damian Dominguez

Examples of First Lady in a Sentence

The President and the First Lady attended the concert.

the first lady of American dance

Recent Examples on the Web

To cohost Tuesday’s International Women of Courage awards at the U.S. State Department with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, First Lady Melania Trump was unmissable in a leopard-print calfskin coat. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 1 Apr. 2025

President Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy had just launched an aggressive anti-drugs campaign, and Major League Baseball was embarrassed by a trial in late 1985 that revealed significant cocaine use on and off the field by players. —Laurence Miedema, Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2025

Dealing with an emotionally unavailable partner is a tireless obstacle to climb — and the First Lady of OVO vulnerably opens up about her own experience, as her stirring vocals capture what can be a helpless feeling. —Christopher Claxton, Billboard, 31 Mar. 2025

Jill Biden in stockings that look like fishnets Then First Lady Jill Biden was criticized for wearing what appeared to be fishnet stockings when arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in April of 2021. —James Powel, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for First Lady

• arcady
• landlady
• cady
• shady
• zaidi

Kids Definition

first lady

noun

often capitalized F&L

: the wife, female partner, or hostess of the chief executive of a country or jurisdiction