drag king

noun

plural drag kings
: a person and especially a woman who dresses as a man and performs as an entertainer in male drag (see drag entry 3 sense 2a)
Likewise, drag kings, who are traditionally females, dress as stereotypically masculine characters.Laura Wavra
While traditionally drag kings involved women stepping into the roles—and clothes—of their male counterparts, today it's not that simple.David Friend
… blind, non-binary drag king Tito Bone showcases their signature skills of song, dance and audio description.Impact News Service (London)

Examples of drag king in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Then there’s Sam and Joel’s other bestie, the always delightful, ridiculously named Fred Rococo, played by legendary drag king Murray Hill. Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2024 Over 20 years at Boycott, DJs and drag kings have gotten their start. Lane Sainty, The Arizona Republic, 29 July 2024 Largo, Florida Florida’s only lesbian bar, The Lady’s Room in Largo creates space for line dancing, drag kings and dives, sports watch parties, and more. Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 May 2024 Drag Race is such a viral and mainstream platform that absolutely drag kings deserve to be on. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 25 Mar. 2024 The Boulet Brothers' Dragula also crowned a cis woman as winner when drag king Landon Cider was named season 3 victor in 2019. EW.com, 21 Nov. 2023 Or, for that matter, consider the frequency with which drag kings perform in cowboy boots. Gabriel N. Rosenberg, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2023 The eight-episode season was taped last summer in New York, but White — an office administrator at a Chicago women’s physical therapy center by day and a drag king performer in evenings — nearly missed out on a couple of chances to be on it. The Indianapolis Star, 25 July 2023 Hundreds planned to dance to Bollywood songs, cheer South Asian drag kings and munch on biryani rice and samosas. Jeong Park, Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drag king was in 1969

Dictionary Entries Near drag king

Cite this Entry

“Drag king.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drag%20king. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!