/ˈfare la primaˈdɔnna/ lit. ‘to play the leading lady’
Italian idiom, colloquial. To want special treatment that nobody else gets.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Fare la primadonna
?
Colloquial and a bit cutting, said about someone who acts as if the rules and the spotlight were theirs alone. Treccani notes it’s used for men too and keeps the feminine form: “Marco fa sempre la primadonna”. You’ll often see it with comportarsi: “si comporta da primadonna”.
Also said fare la prima donna, comportarsi da primadonna
Fare la primadonna
in real sentences
-
Vi comportate tutti da prima donna qui dentro.
You all act like prima donnas in here.
Tatoeba, sentence by Nuel, translation by Nuel, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Fare la primadonna
come from?
A prima donna (“first lady”) is the leading female role in an opera or play, and Treccani lists it under donna as a theatre term. Its figurative sense, “fare la prima donna”, means wanting to outshine everyone and enjoying the honors that come with success; it’s the same image English borrowed as “prima donna”, per English Wiktionary’s list of descendants. We found no date for the first figurative use.
Mistakes learners make with Fare la primadonna
Making it masculine for a man. Italians say “lui fa la primadonna”, not “fa il primo uomo” or “il primodonno”; the theatre role stays feminine whoever is acting up.
Other Italian idioms like Fare la primadonna
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