🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

母老虎

Pronunciation / Transliteration: mǔ lǎohǔ

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Dragon-lady/ˈdræɡ.ən ˌleɪ.di/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #15400 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"她在公司里被称为冷酷严厉的母老虎。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A strong, aggressive, and domineering woman, especially one who uses power or authority ruthlessly.

    "She earned a reputation as a dragon-lady in the corporate boardroom due to her uncompromising management style."
  2. 2

    An oriental female stereotype depicted in Western media as cunning, autocratic, and dangerous.

    "Film critics have noted how early Hollywood cinema frequently relied on the dragon-lady trope for Asian female villains."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term originated from the character 'Dragon Lady' in Milton Caniff's popular 1930s adventure comic strip 'Terry and the Pirates', depicting a ruthless yet alluring Asian female pirate. Over time, the phrase evolved in Western socio-political discourse to generalize and stereotype assertive, domineering, or formidable women, particularly those in positions of power or authority.

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