Word.ws English Dictionary

iron lady

iron lady noun: a strong-willed and unrelenting female leader. Also the alternative form of iron maiden.

Noun

iron lady (plural iron ladies)

  1. A strong-willed and unrelenting female leader.
    • On the one hand, the patriarchal discourse constructs the identity of 'an iron lady' for the successful woman leader.2002 October, AM Lämsä, T Tiensuu, “Representations of the woman leader in Finnish business media articles”, in Business Ethics: A European Review
    • Stories about Biljana Plavsic also contain the monster narrative. Emphasis on her toughness and her nickname 'iron lady' hint at a monster characterization, but these images are much more obvious in the emphasis on the view that Plavsic is lacking in mental balance.2007, Laura Sjoberg, Caron E. Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics, →ISBN, page 156
  2. (archaic) A sewing machine.
    • In the delicate parts of work -- in those mysteries known to the erudite as flounces, gussets, frills, and tucks -- in the learned complications of the herringbone system, and the homely art of darning -- we imagine that the iron lady is not proficient.1854, Charles Dickens, Household Words - Volume 8, page 576
    • But, the iron lady's needle is not like the instrument of a flesh and blood seamstress.1854, Country Gentleman - Volume 3, page 206

Proper noun capitalized: Iron Lady

the Iron Lady

  1. A nickname given to various female leaders, indicating that they are strong-willed and unyielding.
    • Known as the "Serbian Iron Lady" as a result of her hard-line nationalism and rabidly anti-Muslim views, Plavsic was a close ally of Radovan Karadzic.2003, Nancy Amoury Combs, “International Decisions: Prosecutor v. Plavsic”, in American Journal of International Law, volume 97, page 929
    • (see title)2008, Elinor Burkett, Golda Meir: The Iron Lady of the Middle East, →ISBN
    1. (especially) Margaret Thatcher.
      • On the lawn of the White House, with the Iron Lady beside him, Reagan may have pledged that Britain and the USA would 'stand side by side' in defending freedom -- just so long as it was on US terms.2003, David Powell, Tony Benn New Edition, →ISBN, page 159
      • On 16 October 1998, twenty-five years after he left the presidential palace in Santiago to tell the world the story of the Chilean Revolution, Joan Garcés sent to the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón a petition asking for the urgent questioning of General Augusto Pinochet, who was preparing to leave...2013, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Story of a Death Foretold: The Coup Against Salvador Allende, 11 September 1973, →ISBN, page 376
  2. The iron maiden at Nuremberg.
    • As Mrs. Degen stoutly declared, those seeking German embraces would do well to remember the Iron Lady of Nuremberg.1918, The Sketch - Volume 102, page 232
    • The enterprising young reporter jubilantly began constructing a substantial iron net on the frail foundation of circumstantial evidence and that net began to close as tight as the Iron Lady of Nuremburg^([sic]) round Dean Cardigan.1922, The Cosmopolitan - Volume 72, page 21

Also used as

iron lady is also the alternative form of iron maiden.

Examples of iron lady in a sentence

  • Del Ponte only takes the blame for the last incident, acknowledging that she realized too late that she had been played by the “iron lady” from Republica Srpska.2009, David P Forsythe, Encyclopedia of Human Rights - Volume 1, →ISBN, page 485:
  • Not only thin materials, but Johnny's jeans and corduroys, which the old iron lady used to chew up and swallow and then just moan and die on.2014, Taylor, American Geisha, →ISBN, page 22:

Forms of iron lady

pluraliron ladies

Questions about iron lady

What does iron lady mean?
Iron lady means a strong-willed and unrelenting female leader.
How do you use iron lady in a sentence?
Del Ponte only takes the blame for the last incident, acknowledging that she realized too late that she had been played by the “iron lady” from Republica Srpska.
What part of speech is iron lady?
Iron lady can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of iron lady?
The plural of iron lady is iron ladies.

Words near iron lady in the dictionary

  1. iron horse
  2. iron horses
  3. iron house
  4. iron houses
  5. iron ladies
  6. iron lady
  7. iron law
  8. iron liquor
  9. iron lung
  10. iron lungs
  11. iron maiden

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: iron lady (page history and authors); Iron Lady (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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