Dowager Meaning
/ˈdaʊədʒə/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA widow holding property or title derived from her late husband.
nounThe widow of the holder of a title (usually a member of the peerage or a baronet); used in combination with the title she held during her husband's lifetime.
Sentence Examples
Empress Dowager Cixi held control in China for forty-seven years.
She was politely described as a redoubtable dowager.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ donated her estate to the museum after her husband's death.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Empress ____ Cixi held control in China for forty-seven years.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French douagere, douagiere, from douage (“dower”), from the verb douer (“to endow”), from Latin dōtō (“to endow”), from dōs (“dowry”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, the chlorotic squatters on huge yachts,[…]!”"
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ donated her estate to the museum after her husband's death.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Empress ____ Cixi held control in China for forty-seven years.