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Most dictionaries have "drama queen" to mean a person who behaves as if a small problem or event is more important or serious than it really is.

Oh, stop being such a drama queen!

Although a few dictionaries have "drama king" (An overly or exaggeratedly dramatic person, especially a man or a boy.), is it natural to say to a boy or man "you're such a drama king" or "you're such a drama queen"?

Google books had some hits saying "such a drama king".

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  • No. It would be like saying "He's such a tenor" as the gender-specific equivalent of "She's such a diva". Native speakers don't say "drama king" in large numbers, though you might find a few people on the internet who think it's clever.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 30 at 13:23
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    Collins Dictionary) gives an example of 'drama queen' being used of a man. Your own search shows that 'drama king' is also sometimes used. Since it's an informal expression, neither is more 'correct' than the other.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 30 at 13:24
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    You also have to be circumspect when evaluating attestations. Certain genres (like "Young Adult Fiction") will be formulaic and present a distorted view of how pervasively a particular word or phrase is used. It might appear in ten young adult novels but they could all be from the same publisher, or the authors could be copying each other.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 30 at 13:31
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    English speakers are always being creative. The original idiom is drama queen but there's no reason not to change it to king. Whoever doesn't agree just does not "get" how creative one can be in English.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 30 at 14:43
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    It would be like judging how frequently the word "sleuth" is used by doing a Google search and coming up with dozens and dozens of attestations from the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 30 at 15:02

2 Answers 2

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From the wiktionary discussion about drama queen:

Seeing as the term has been stolen from Gay urban culture, It is never a woman. Queen (derived from 'Drag Queen' or female impersonator) or simply an effeminate rather than the more common, masculine type of gay man.

The origin of the term "queen" is not about a woman. Rather, a man. It should always remain in the form "drama queen" regardless of gender, and can be applied to either a man or a woman.

In colloquial usage, it's almost never converted to 'king'.

Perhaps a small number of people, even non-native speakers, will be confused, and they will generate alternative forms which are then found on some webpages.

In an ngram chart, "drama queen" is 30 times more common than "drama king". The idea or the concept of "drama queen" can apply to men and women. Logically, if "drama king" were the correct terminology, if "drama king" was the male version, then the ngram chart would show a closer level of parity. But it doesn't. That is because the "king" alternative is a joke, a "play on words", or a mistake, rather than the ordinary phrase.

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    It definitely can be used as of a woman or girl. The 2004 movie Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen had Lindsay Lohan in the title role. And this BBC page discusses usage saying it can be "he or she".
    – Stuart F
    Commented Dec 1 at 14:26
  • Yes, that is why I wrote "regardless of gender". It can be used for either a man or woman. The historical etymology though, refers to a man.
    – Sam
    Commented Dec 1 at 14:46
  • The origin of the term is right here but not other possibilities.
    – Lambie
    Commented Dec 1 at 16:21
  • @Lambie, I disagree with "other possibilities". Unless you take the stance "everything is permitted, all the time, all creativity is allowed and is correct". Ok, there may be a "play on words", a funny re-wording.
    – Sam
    Commented Dec 1 at 16:25
  • It doesn't matter. It's out there, people will say and do as they please regardless of any misgivings you and I might have. It's the way of the English-speaking world. Would I use it? NO. Is it used? Apparently so. Do I approve? Not really. But consider this: What about a gay woman who is a drama king? Hmm? :)
    – Lambie
    Commented Dec 1 at 16:28
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Your question is whether it's okay to call a male human being "a drama king(Q1)" or "a drama queen(Q2)."

The answer is yes. By extension, the expression "drama queen(Q2)" can be used regardless of gender.

https://english.dict.naver.com/english-dictionary/#/entry/enen/039676b8ea084a81824b5f4719ea9a23

And a 'drama king' is a male version of a "drama queen".

https://english.dict.naver.com/english-dictionary/#/search?query=drama%20king

The word king is for a man and queen for a woman.

That said, if your conversation partner doesn't understand what you say, be conventional: oldie but goodie.

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    Yes, we take idioms all the time and change them. It's called creativity.
    – Lambie
    Commented Nov 30 at 14:41
  • That is a really bad 'dictionary' link.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Nov 30 at 15:03
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    It would no more or less "correct" than saying that a woman "didn't have the balls" to say or do something requiring courage. I've heard it said in a movie but it was being used in a manner that deliberately went against convention and stereotype. I've heard a woman in a movie say to another woman, "Oh, grow a pair". But again, that's running counter to "standard" usage.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 30 at 15:09
  • @TimR Does 'a pair' means 'a pair of balls' of a man?
    – gomadeng
    Commented Nov 30 at 15:31
  • Yes, that is the intended reference. It is a taunting remark typically said by a guy to another guy who is not acting, he believes, with enough "spine".
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 30 at 16:41

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