celebrity
[suh-leb-ri-tee]
- a famous or well-known person.
- fame; renown.
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Origin of celebrity
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin celebritās multitude, fame, festal celebration, equivalent to celebr- (stem of celeber) often repeated, famous + -itās -ity
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
someone, figure, luminary, personage, hero, star, personality, superstar, stardom, popularity, somebody, name, ace, VIP, bigwig, notable, heavyweight, immortal, lion, worthyExamples from the Web for celebrity
Contemporary Examples
In the last year, her fusion exercise class has attracted a cult following and become de rigueur among the celebrity set.
What celebrity has started to talk about his or her eating disorder?
To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.
Whatever the excuse, in 2008 we were all subjected to Celebrity Apprentice.
Donald Trump Fires Woman For Not Calling Bill CosbyJack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video
January 5, 2015
Her first celebrity beef began when Snoop Dogg started Instagramming some pretty vile things about her, seemingly unprovoked.
Solange Smacks Jay Z, Legolas Slaps Bieber, and the Biggest Celebrity Feuds of the YearAmy Zimmerman
December 24, 2014
Historical Examples
But those who are caught in the clutches of celebrity at the age of twenty know nothing.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
Judge Andrews gave immediate promise of celebrity as an advocate.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
But let Celebrity stand there and enjoy her hour; to-morrow the Ploughman will come.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
Celebrity has fallen on me at last, though, and I'm to go at Easter.
The Eternal CityHall Caine
He may have become a celebrity, a rich man,—Heaven knows what.
One Of ThemCharles James Lever
celebrity
- a famous persona show-business celebrity
- fame or notoriety
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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 celebrity
n.
late 14c., "solemn rite or ceremony," from Old French celebrité "celebration" or directly from Latin celibritatem (nominative celebritas) "multitude, fame," from celeber "frequented, populous" (see celebrate). Meaning "condition of being famous" is from c.1600; that of "famous person" is from 1849.
When the old gods withdraw, the empty thrones cry out for a successor, and with good management, or even without management, almost any perishable bag of bones may be hoisted into the vacant seat. [E.R. Dodds, "The Greeks and the Irrational"]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper