Showing Results for "starring"

See Also:

• present participle of star.

starring

American  

[stahr-ing] / ˈstɑr ɪŋ /

adjective

1. featured or celebrated as a star in a movie, on a sports team, etc..

   He was already the starring quarterback on his high school football team, which was on its way to a state championship.

2. (of a character or role) leading, central, or primary.

   The earliest performance I can remember is when I played the starring role in a drama called The Littlest Angel at church.

   As the town’s largest employer, the university also plays a starring role in the local economy.

3. featuring a specified performer.

   They didn't give a beginner a starring movie when I started acting 18 years ago.

---

Etymology

Origin of starring

star ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

Your attention-grabbing friend might be one who goes through life imagining it's a movie starring her. Starring means being the main character in a movie or play. Starring is an adjective that's used when someone's at the center of things, like a concert starring a famous cellist. The Greek word aster became the English word star, which was first used to mean "to be featured in a play" in the 1820s. If you imagine a star shining brightly in the dark night sky, it's easy to see how starring came to mean "being the most important on the stage."

Example Sentences

Johnson, 36, purchased the “masterclass in modernism” back in January 2016, when she paid $3.55 million for the property, using a chunk of the money she earned from starring in the “Fifty Shades” franchises.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026

“Supergirl,” the upcoming superhero film starring Milly Alcock as the last daughter of Krypton, Kara Zor-El, has been the target of questioning from online detractors.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Hulu’s British comedy starring Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement puts the titular best friends at odds when Alice’s 26-year-old daughter begins dating the much older Steve.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Fast facts: A sci-fi thrill ride starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as parents who have to fight for their lives when their whole street is mysteriously transported to a world with dinosaurs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

“I’m just interested in their ship and getting off the island, not some fantasy fed by a gazillion romance novels and stupid rom-coms starring Jessica Everett,” Adina snarked.39 “What’s your problem?”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray