diva
Americannoun
plural
divas, divenoun
Etymology
Origin of diva
1880–85; < Italian < Latin dīva, feminine of dīvus god; cf. divine
Explanation
Technically, a diva is a big-time female opera star. Beverly Sills and Maria Callas were two of the world's most renowned divas. More commonly, though, we call anyone who thinks they're more fabulous than everyone else a diva. The word diva was a compliment, one reserved for only the greatest singers in the world. Lately, though, diva has come to describe someone that's acting entitled or holier than thou. A person who acts like the world revolves around her is a diva. If you walk into a packed restaurant and demand the best table snapping, "Don't you know who I am?", well, that's diva behavior.
Vocabulary lists containing diva
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His free skate to "The Diva Dance" earned him personal best scores of 198.64 for the routine and 291.58 overall.
From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026
Spain's entry, Esa Diva by Melody, finished in 24th place on Saturday night in Basel.
From BBC • May 19, 2025
“The nodules sit on the seafloor like cobbles in a street,” said Diva Amon, a marine biologist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2025
In the 2000s, street magazines like F.E.D.S. and Don Diva emerged to document underworld figures, sometimes in their own words.
From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2024
“TJ’s already getting dressed, and the car’s gonna be here in a half hour. Now that you’re Miss Diva, I’m sure it’s gonna take you a while to get dressed, so hurry yo’ tail up.”
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
