English Reference
Idiom idiom

queen bee


The most important or dominant woman in an organization or situation.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

She acts like the queen bee of the office.

CONTEXTUAL

Everyone knows she is the queen bee here, so you should probably ask for her approval first.

COMPLEX

Despite her outward charm, she operated as the undisputed queen bee, carefully controlling the social hierarchy of the entire department.


From the compound of queen and bee. Middle English previously employed the term kyng of been, literally the king of bees, to describe the same role.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    baked Bean

    [Cockney slang]queen

  2. 02

    beauty queen

    The female winner of a beauty contest.

  3. 03

    bee in one's bonnet

    Something of particular interest or concern; an obsession.

  4. 04

    bio queen

    A cis female performance artist who performs in female drag at drag shows, or acts like a drag queen.

  5. 05

    birds and bees

    Informal education about sex.

  6. 06

    busy as a bee

    Very active; working constantly.

  7. 07

    drama queen

    An overly or exaggeratedly dramatic person, especially a woman or a girl. Or a diva or a narcissist.

  8. 08

    faux queen

    A bio queen.

Last updated August 10, 2026