divan.
/ˈdiːva/ A distinguished female singer, a prima donna.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > opera-singer > [noun] > prima donna
opera queen1747
prima donna1754
prima1768
first woman1772
prima donna assoluta1854
diva1883
1883 Black in Harper's Mag. Feb. 465/2 The latest diva of the drama.
1894 Tablet 7 Apr. 531 Operatic singers of the other sex are to be engaged, but no diva.
Draft additions June 2015
A person, typically a woman, who is self-important, temperamental, and extremely demanding. Cf. prima donna n. 2.Originally and chiefly with reference to entertainers and celebrities.
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1988 New Pittsburgh Courier 10 Sept. 5/4 Baker is developing quite a reputation as a diva. She was all set to perform..a week ago, but pulled out at the last minute.
1989 Empire Sept. 32/1 Joan Collins is such a diva that she won't enter a restaurant unless they change the pictures on the walls to her liking!
1994 Q Aug. 73/2 I hate the big headed ones, the divas. Actors schmactors.
2001 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 8 July 59 An enormous talent, but he comes with a ton of baggage and a reputation as a diva.
2007 K. Price Crystal iii. 51 Crystal tried to keep Belle in her place,..telling her that she was turning into a proper diva, that soon she'd be demanding she bathed only in mineral water.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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