What does femme mean?
Femme is a noun borrowed from French, where it means "woman" or "wife." In English it appears most often in loan phrases like "femme fatale," the dangerously seductive woman of film noir and detective fiction. Over the twentieth century, however, "femme" developed a distinct life of its own within LGBTQ+ communities: it describes a lesbian, or more broadly a queer woman, whose presentation is deliberately feminine — makeup, dresses, and other markers conventionally coded as female — often in contrast with "butch." Used this way, frequently capitalized as Femme, the word functions as an identity term and carries connotations of pride rather than stereotype, affirming that femininity itself can be a queer expression. Writers typically treat it as both descriptive and self-chosen, so applying it to someone without their consent can feel presumptuous. From deadly temptress to empowered identity, "femme" shows how a borrowed word can acquire meanings its original language never imagined.
A lesbian whose appearance and behaviour are conventionally feminine.
"As a femme, she often had her identity questioned at queer events until she found community that understood her."
Often capitalized (Femme) when used as an identity label; best used self-descriptively or with the person's own framing.
A woman or wife, from French; now chiefly confined to borrowed phrases such as "femme fatale" or playful imitations of French.
"The novel's femme fatale ensnares every man who crosses her path."
Regular plural; common in LGBTQ+ writing when referring to femmes as a group.
"The zine collected oral histories from butches and femmes across three generations."
The same word that gave us "femme fatale" was reclaimed by queer women in the 20th century — turning the deadly seductress into an emblem of proudly feminine LGBTQ+ identity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of femme
Femme comes directly from French femme, meaning "woman" or "wife," which derives from Latin femina, "woman." English adopted the word in set phrases beginning in the nineteenth century, most famously in "femme fatale." Its modern use as a term for a feminine-presenting lesbian arose in mid-twentieth-century American LGBTQ+ communities, notably alongside the butch–femme pairing, and has since broadened within queer culture. The Latin root fem- also yields English words such as "feminine," "feminism," and "effeminate."
Related word forms
How femme is actually used
As an English word in its own right, "femme" is used mainly in LGBTQ+ contexts and is often capitalized by writers who treat it as an identity label; it should not be assumed to describe all queer women. The older sense, meaning simply "woman" or "wife," survives mostly in fixed borrowings such as "femme fatale" or ironic imitation of French. Because "femme" also means "woman/wife" in French, learners may encounter it as an ordinary French noun in bilingual contexts.
Easily confused with femme
"Femme" is a noun naming a woman or, today, a feminine-presenting queer woman, while "feminine" is an adjective describing qualities regarded as characteristic of women.