/ə ˌpɹiːməˈdɒnə/ lit. ‘first lady (Italian)’
English idiom, informal. To want special treatment that nobody else gets.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use A prima donna
?
Informal and clearly an insult, for someone who expects to be treated as more important than everyone else and sulks when they aren’t. It’s a noun, so you call someone a prima donna or say they’re acting or behaving like one. It works for any gender and turns up a lot about athletes, actors and colleagues: “the striker is a total prima donna”.
Also said act like a prima donna
A prima donna
in real sentences
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You all act like prima donnas in here.
Tatoeba, sentence by Nuel, CC BY 2.0 FR
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If your room request includes a plush animal print rug, a director’s chair with your name on it, or a life-sized cardboard cutout of yourself, you just might be a prima donna.
Tatoeba, sentence by LB, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does A prima donna
come from?
It’s Italian for “first lady”, the title of the lead female singer in an opera, and English borrowed it with that meaning. The insult sense, someone who thinks they’re more important than others and gets angry when their demands aren’t met, is listed by English Wiktionary as informal and derogatory, and it plays on the reputation opera stars had for star treatment. Wiktionary gives no date for when the insult sense took over.
Mistakes learners make with A prima donna
Learners use it as praise for a talented woman, since the opera meaning is “leading lady”. In everyday English it’s an insult, and it can describe men too.
Other English idioms like A prima donna
Spot a mistake in A prima donna
?
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