dowager.

1. A widow who retains a title or property associated with her deceased husband.

2. An older woman of wealth or elevated social standing, often imagined in a stately manner.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a dowager countess
• the queen dowager

On the page

The dowager countess occupied the oldest wing after the new couple arrived.

The queen dowager received the visitor without the regent’s permission.

Usage notes

Primary category: gothic. Forms: Singular dowager; plural dowagers. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.