premiere
noun
a first public performance or showing of a play, opera, film, etc.
premiere
1 American
[pri-meer, -myair]
/ prɪˈmɪər, -ˈmjɛər /
French
première
noun
-
premieres
plural
-
a first public performance or showing of a play, opera, film, etc.
-
the leading woman, as in a drama.
verb (used with object)
premiered,
premiering
verb (used without object)
premiered,
premiering
-
to have the first public showing.
It will premiere at the Arcadia Theater.
-
to perform publicly for the first time, as in a particular role, entertainment medium, etc..
When does he premiere as Hamlet?
adjective
première
2
American
[pri-meer, -myair, pr uh-myer]
/ prɪˈmɪər, -ˈmjɛər, prəˈmjɛr /
noun
-
premières
plural
premiere
British
/ ˈprɛmɪə, ˈprɛmɪˌɛə /
noun
-
the first public performance of a film, play, opera, etc
-
the leading lady in a theatre company
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of premiere
First recorded in 1890–95; from French première literally, “first”; feminine of premier; see origin at premier
Explanation
A premiere is the first showing of a work of art. A movie premiere often takes place in Los Angeles or New York, with stars in attendance and the iconic red carpet rolled out to greet them. Premiere comes from the French première, which means "first." The French origin probably accounts for the word's being seen as elegant and exciting. Over time, premiere has spawned its own verb––to premiere means to perform or be performed for the first time.
Vocabulary lists containing premiere
English Words Derived from French, List 3
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Academy Awards, List 4
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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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:
“Wives” had its premiere at New York’s Playwrights Horizons in 2019, but there’s a reason you probably never heard anything about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Mother, danced with dignity by Unity Phelan at the premiere, is initially garbed in a heavy golden dress with boxy letters spelling out “PROTECT” across her shoulders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The movie earned a huge response at its Telluride premiere, though there were some quibbles about the surprising, surreal turns the story takes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Launched in the U.S. in 1896, with the New York premiere of Thomas Edison’s Vitascope film projector, silent movies astonished audiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The winter I was fifteen, the Van de Kamps invited me to go see the Christmas premiere with them at the Schouwburg, an old playhouse that Mama let me wear her pearls to visit.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
One of Ms. Zeani's career highlights was singing the lead role of Blanche in the première of Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” at La Scala in 1957.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
On Monday the outgoing PM, Jean Castex, called Ms Borne "première ministre" - a feminine form of the usual "premier ministre" - to underline the historical significance of her appointment.
From BBC ● May 17, 2022
On October 20th, the Donaueschingen Music Days, the long-running German festival, gave the world première of “Elemental Realities,” Frey’s first large-scale piece for orchestra in many years.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2019
That evening, there was a red-carpet première, and at midnight he would fly to England, for the London Film Festival.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 21, 2019
I told Doreen I would not go to the show or the luncheon or the film première, but that I would not go to Coney Island either, I would stay in bed.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Arriving in theaters this fall after multiple splashy film festival premieres, it announces the 38-year-old actress, best known for playing a bedraggled spy in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, as a potential Oscar contender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Wonka's The Golden Ticket premieres on Netflix this week, with a two-part finale scheduled for 30 September.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Season 4 of “Tulsa King” premieres Friday, Oct.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
Risk-aversion on the part of budget-conscious studio executives means many studios have preferred to launch films through their own tightly controlled premieres instead of at festivals, which provide no guarantee of rave reviews from critics.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
By the second half of the twentieth century this was certainly not the case for premieres of new operas or symphonies.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The most arresting of the world premières was Ashley Fure’s “Bound to the Bow,” which appeared on a program by the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, at Geffen Hall.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 20, 2016
More than a hundred composers were featured, more than half of them supplying world premières.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 20, 2016
He was mooching around film sets and premières, and the parts began rolling in.
From Economist ● Jun. 9, 2016
As I commented when Levine retired, the company’s record of world premières in the past forty years is embarrassing: only five of them, together with the American première of Nico Muhly’s “Two Boys.”
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 2, 2016
Furies trip measures and strike attitudes in pink tights and draperies of unæsthetic hues, when not engaged in witnessing, with qualified interest, incidental dances by two premières danseuses.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, November 15, 1890 by Various
As long as television exists, “The Twilight Zone,” which premiered on Oct.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released in the UK in January 2024.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
The two-part play, a sequel to JK Rowling's books, premiered in the West End in 2016 and closed on 20 September.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
When “NAZA” premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 10, the documentary received a 25-minute standing ovation, setting a festival record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
His iconic Messiah, though, was uniquely premiered in Dublin - then Britain’s second-largest city - in 1742.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
This is the brilliant way writer-director Jesse Eisenberg thrusts us into his third — and best — feature, “The Debut,” screening at this year’s New York Film Festival and premiering in theaters December 11.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
He will play the lead role in the upcoming ITV drama The Party premiering on 11 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Mackenzie Crook, who wrote and directed “Detectorists,” a gorgeous pastoral comedy about hobbyist hunters seeking Saxon gold in southwest England, has a new series, “Small Prophets,” premiering Wednesday on Apple TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
At 64, and with the show’s 51st season premiering in September, the host and producer has no plans to slow down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Through sheer coincidence, around the same time Mom was doing her research on the club, a documentary film about Peter Westbrook himself was premiering in New York City.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
