all-star

[awl-stahr]

adjective

consisting of athletes chosen as the best at their positions from all teams in a league or region: Our quarterback was chosen for the all-star team.
consisting entirely of star performers: an all-star cast.

noun

Sports. a player selected for an all-star team.

Origin of all-star

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for all-star

Contemporary Examples

To his peers, he's an all-star eccentric who is pitied or clucked over protectively as often as he is envied.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up
Tom Boswell
September 27, 2014
At some point in the intervening decades, all of those cards have vanished, save one: my 1978 Reggie Jackson All-Star card.
The Best Quantified Self Site You Haven’t Heard Of
Jamie Todd Rubin
August 5, 2014
In 2007, Tim Hardaway lost his gig promoting the NBA and its All-Star game after telling a radio interviewer that he hates gays.
Mark Cuban Warns That Basketball Players Could Get the Sterling Treatment Next
Evan Weiner
June 3, 2014
Sapan has shot an all-star list of portraits, a six-week process that starts around $2,500: Warhol was an early subject.
New York’s Hologram King Is Also the City’s Last Pro Holographer
Nina Strochlic
May 27, 2014
“This is a prestigious panel, an all-star group,” Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) gushed of the five people sitting before him.
The Heroin Hearing That Wasn’t
Abby Haglage
April 30, 2014

Historical Examples

It's like one of those plays advertised as having an all-star cast.
Half Portions
Edna Ferber
This is the reason why "all-star" performances are almost always bad.
The Theory of the Theatre
Clayton Hamilton
Paul Day wins the prize and his play has a try-out with an all-star amateur cast, and Peggy Emmons is chosen to play the lead.
Polly's First Year at Boarding School
Dorothy Whitehill
If ever a magazine merited the designation “all-star number,” your August issue filled the bill.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, December 1930
Various
It is not my purpose to select an all-star football team from the long list of heroes past and present.
Football Days
William H. Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for all-star

all-star

adjective

(prenominal) consisting of star performers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for all-star

adj.

1893, originally of theatrical casts, from all + star (n.) in the "celebrated person" sense. From 1898 in reference to sports teams.

all-star

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}all-star

Examples from the Web for all-star

Contemporary Examples

To his peers, he's an all-star eccentric who is pitied or clucked over protectively as often as he is envied.

At some point in the intervening decades, all of those cards have vanished, save one: my 1978 Reggie Jackson All-Star card.

In 2007, Tim Hardaway lost his gig promoting the NBA and its All-Star game after telling a radio interviewer that he hates gays.

Sapan has shot an all-star list of portraits, a six-week process that starts around $2,500: Warhol was an early subject.

“This is a prestigious panel, an all-star group,” Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) gushed of the five people sitting before him.

Historical Examples

It's like one of those plays advertised as having an all-star cast.

This is the reason why "all-star" performances are almost always bad.

Paul Day wins the prize and his play has a try-out with an all-star amateur cast, and Peggy Emmons is chosen to play the lead.

If ever a magazine merited the designation “all-star number,” your August issue filled the bill.

It is not my purpose to select an all-star football team from the long list of heroes past and present.

all-star

Word Origin and History for all-star

adj.

Origin of all-star