delta female

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word delta female. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word delta female, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say delta female in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word delta female you have here. The definition of the word delta female will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofdelta female, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Noun

delta female (plural delta females)

  1. A relatively low-status woman in the sociosexual hierarchy, (ranking below alpha, beta, and gamma females, but above omega females).
    • 2009, Gayden Metcalfe, Some Day You'll Thank Me for This:
      If a DSM “lets herself go”—the phrase is one of the most horrible in the Delta female's lexicon—Mother will regard it as a reflection on herself.
    • 2012, Malcolm Macdonald, Strange Music:
      In plain English, the alpha female is telling her beta-mate that she wants this Debbie girl, who will be very much a delta female, to take up the spare room in their flat, since her parents have cast her out in the snow.
    • 2019, Ruby Wax, How Do You Want Me?, page 144:
      There are only two types of Delta Female who have ever successfully captured the Alpha Male!
  2. A female animal that ranks fourth in the social hierarchy.
    • 1968 June, Frank E. Poirier, “The Nilgiri langur (Presbytis johnii) mother-infant dyad”, in Primates, volume 9:
      The alpha female moves through the tree and sits next to the delta female; she reaches for her infant, but the delta female turns her back.
    • 1973, Folia Primatologica, page 460:
      It is interesting to note in this regard that the alpha female slapped the beta female, but only displayed toward the delta female.
    • 2013, Leonard A. Rosenblum, Primate Behavior: Developments in Field and Laboratory Research, page 308:
      The beta female approaches the delta female who sits with an infant at her chest.