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Definition of "dowager" [dow•a•ger]

  • A widow who holds a title or property derived from her deceased husband. (noun)
  • An elderly woman of high social station. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "dowager" in a sentence
  • "I guess a dowager is actually always a woman who inherits property from her dead husband."
  • "Now the maid had never heard the word dowager in her life, but thought she would make a shot for it, so when his reverence asked if Mrs. MacCarthy was at home, she blurted out: --"
  • "It distinguished the dowager Mrs. Smith from the wife of her eldest son; today the word dowager, imitating the English usage, is frequently employed in fashionable society."