celebrity

[suh-leb-ri-tee]

noun

plural

celebrities 

1. a famous or well-known person.

2. fame; renown.

   Synonyms: stardom, eminence, note, distinction

celebrity

/ sɪˈlɛbrɪtɪ /

noun

1. a famous person

   a show-business celebrity

2. fame or notoriety

Other Word Forms

• noncelebrity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of celebrity¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin celebritās multitude, fame, festal celebration, equivalent to celebr- (stem of celeber ) often repeated, famous + -itās -ity

Example Sentences

Hundreds of people stood in the heat of an unseasonably warm October weekend — not for a sample sale or celebrity sighting, but a pop-up hosted by the artificial-intelligence company Anthropic.

Read more on MarketWatch

The celebrity edition of the hit BBC show began this week, and with it a murdering spree.

Read more on BBC

Yet in comparison with other artists and celebrities who’ve widely criticized the president and his policies, Bad Bunny is not all that political or outspoken.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Are foreign sports teams the new celebrity accessory?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She was intrigued, but she worried that the story was too offbeat to appeal to the celebrity focus of the New Yorker’s then editor, Tina Brown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• figure 
• hero 
• luminary 
• personage 
• personality 
• someone 
• star 
• superstar