Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

doyenne

/dˌɔɪˈɛn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.68 in modern English

Syllables: doyenne
IPA: /dˌɔɪˈɛn/

11

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A female doyen.

noun

The senior or eldest female member of a group, especially one who is most or highly respected.

noun

A woman who is highly experienced and knowledgeable in a particular field, subject, or line of work; expert.

Example Sentences

"Helen Thomas is frequently referred to as "the doyenne of the White House press corps"."
"The French, who celebrated her as the doyenne of humanity, had their own theories about why she lived so long, noting that she used to eat more than two pounds of chocolate a week and treat her skin with olive oil, rode a bicycle until she was 100, and only quit smoking five years ago."
"There were encouraged and facilitated by Anna Wintour, doyenne of the fashion industry, who decided with [Hillary] Clinton that the couple should have a bigger wedding while attending their engagement bash."

Etymology

Borrowed from French doyenne.

Inflected Forms

doyennes (plural)

Synonyms

grande dame

Rhymes With

when then again men ten ben en pen gen cnn ken den

Questions

How do you pronounce doyenne?: The recorded pronunciation is /dˌɔɪˈɛn/.
What does doyenne mean?: A female doyen.
Where does doyenne come from?: Borrowed from French doyenne.

How to pronounce doyenne

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “doyenne”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dˌɔɪˈɛn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “doyenne”.
Repeat and practice — Say “doyenne” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.