celebrity
Americannoun
-
a famous or well-known person.
-
fame; renown.
- Synonyms:
- stardom, eminence, note, distinction
noun
-
a famous person
a show-business celebrity
-
fame or notoriety
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of celebrity
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin celebritās multitude, fame, festal celebration, equivalent to celebr- (stem of celeber ) often repeated, famous + -itās -ity
Explanation
A celebrity is a very famous person. If you single-handedly save an entire family from a burning building, you'll become a local celebrity. Celebrity comes directly from the Latin celebritatum, meaning famous, and is related to the verb celebrate which means to honor something with the proper ritual. We usually use celebrity now when we talk about entertainment stars, but someone doesn't have to be on the supermarket tabloids to be a celebrity. Celebrity can also be used to mean the state of fame. If you are seeking celebrity, develop a thick skin for nasty rumors.
Vocabulary lists containing celebrity
And the Oscar Goes to... Award-worthy Words
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Academy Awards, List 5
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Lesson 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Complaints about celebrity can be pretty tedious, of course; sometimes it feels as though famous pop singers have forgotten how to write about anything other than life in the social-media fishbowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The 1954 TV show made him a local celebrity flush with cash, but he chafed against the producers who he said “tried to make robots out of us.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
That most recent listing, which is held by celebrity real estate agent Josh Flagg, has now been updated to reflect that the property is under “contingent” offer.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Since then, she's interviewed everyone from Cher to Ed Sheeran, and has become a celebrity in her own right.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Nadine’s mom is a celebrity stylist, so Nadine wears the most fashionable outfits out of anyone in this school.
From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan
Outside in the streets, the cosplayers enjoyed mugging for the cameras or taking selfies and laughing at themselves and others while interacting with their favorite celebrities.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
The city released a list of celebrities and business executives who could be subject to Zohran Mamdani’s new tax, including a cabinet secretary and the president’s niece.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Over the course of the protest, most of India's major opposition political parties, activists and many celebrities turned up to show solidarity.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
However, many Americans didn’t see these two celebrities as distant icons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
But maybe they know too much about the victors, especially the ones who’ve been celebrities for ages, to forget we’re human beings.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
