lipstick lesbian

From early 1980s.

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lipstick lesbian (plural lipstick lesbians)

1. (LGBTQ, slang) A lesbian who has glamorously feminine characteristics, as opposed to a butch lesbian.
   • 1986 [1984], Armistead Maupin, Babycakes (Tales of the City), page 65:

     Mona dashed to the window and peeped down at an elegantly dressed brunette waiting in the entrance alcove. She certainly looked like a friend of Serra's. The lipstick lesbians were everywhere.

• Some distinguish a lipstick lesbian as one attracted to other feminine women, as opposed to femme, a feminine lesbian who is attracted to butch women.

• designer dyke

• bull dyke, butch

• lipstick lesbianism