dame
- 01 C2 Proficiency
an old-fashioned and informal way to say 'woman'.
a slang term for a woman, common in mid-20th-century American English but now considered dated or slightly disrespectful.
Simple“In those old black-and-white detective movies, the hero often falls for a mysterious dame.”
In context“The hard-boiled detective leaned against the bar, watching the dame walk across the room with a mixture of suspicion and admiration.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is mostly found in old 'film noir' movies or pulp fiction; it is not used in modern polite conversation.
“In July, the leader of the Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally, visited Ghana in one of her first international visits in the role .”
“She came off that bend like a train," three-time world heptathlon champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said on BBC TV.”