leading lady

noun

: an actress who plays the leading female role

Examples of leading lady in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web As a guest on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, The Bachelor alum, 29, revealed that she was offered the role of the upcoming season’s leading lady. Brendan Le, Peoplemag, 1 May 2024 The Bachelor alum, who came in fourth place on Joey Graziadei’s season earlier this year, opened up on a new episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast about her decision not to become the next leading lady. Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 May 2024 Editor's Note This article was originally published on November 3, 2022 Jennifer Garner has long been one of our favorite leading ladies. Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 1 May 2024 After Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor wrapped up, Jenn Tran was announced as the franchise’s next leading lady during the After the Final Rose special. Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 1 May 2024 As for his leading lady, Taylor-Joy first caught Miller's eye in Edgar Wright's 2021 film Last Night in Soho. EW.com, 1 May 2024 But instead of a smooth path ahead, the unfortunate thespians are dealt a hand that includes an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that has trouble remaining dead and clumsy actors who have difficulties remembering their lines. The Indianapolis Star, 11 Apr. 2024 And what about that final curveball when Daisy turned down the role of The Bachelorette, and Jenn Tran was instead chosen to be the next leading lady? Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 26 Mar. 2024 Yet the only person who can give you permission to be a leading lady is yourself. Shon Faye, Vogue, 18 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leading lady.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of leading lady was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near leading lady

Cite this Entry

“Leading lady.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leading%20lady. Accessed 9 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

leading lady

noun
: an actress who plays the leading female role in a play or movie

More from Merriam-Webster on leading lady

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!