Word
dowager
Phoneticsdowa·ger
US/ˈdaʊədʒɝ/
UK/dˈaʊɪdʒɐ/
Definition
n. a woman who has been married to a man who has died. She usually keeps the title and the money from her husband's family.
n. a woman who has been widowed and retains the title and estate of her deceased husband. Often used in historical or formal contexts to describe the status of a queen or noblewoman after her husband's death.
Examples
“The dowager queen lived in a large palace in the city.”
“The dowager spent her retirement years traveling across Europe, visiting the many palaces she had once owned.”
“Historians often study the dowager's influence on court politics, noting how her wealth and social standing allowed her to maintain significant power even after her husband's passing.”
Examples
simple
“The dowager queen lived in a large palace in the city.”
contextual
“The dowager spent her retirement years traveling across Europe, visiting the many palaces she had once owned.”
complex
“Historians often study the dowager's influence on court politics, noting how her wealth and social standing allowed her to maintain significant power even after her husband's passing.”
Real-World Examples
“And on the former reacting like Victorian dowagers when they hear a word like “chatbot” or “Zoom”.” Etymology
From Middle French douagere, douagiere, from douage (“dower”), from the verb douer (“to endow”), from Latin dōtō (“to endow”), from dōs (“dowry”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/dowager