Synonyms

first lady

American

[furst leee-dee] / ˈfɜrst ˈlei di /

noun

plural

first ladies

Often First Lady the wife of the U.S. president, or the wife of a current governor or mayor.
Often First Lady the wife of the head of any country.

the First Lady of Brazil.
the foremost woman in any art, profession, or the like.

Helen Hayes, the first lady of American theater.

first lady British

noun

(in the US) the wife or official hostess of a chief executive, esp of a state governor or a president
a woman considered to be at the top of her profession or art

the first lady of jazz

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of first lady

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This marked the first time a former first lady and former president were speaking to a congressional committee under subpoena.

From The Wall Street Journal

One grant, named after former first lady Laura Bush, helps recruit and train library professionals.

From Salon

If this vapid, airless, mindless time-waster had subversive designs of being a satire about the first lady of the United States, there’s not much it would have changed.

From Los Angeles Times

For the first lady, the “Melania” documentary turned out to be a box-office winner, but for Amazon, maybe not so much.

From MarketWatch

The files were released the same day as Melania: 20 Days to History, a behind-the-scenes look at the first lady's life in the days leading up to her husband's January 2025 inauguration.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023