celebrity

[ suh-leb-ri-tee ]

/ səˈlɛb rɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR celebrity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ce·leb·ri·ties for 1.

a famous or well-known person.

fame; renown.

Nearby words

celebrate, celebrated, celebrated jumping frog of calaveras county, the, celebration, celebratory, celebrity, celebutante, celeriac, celerity, celery, celery cabbage

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 FOR celebrity

2 distinction, note, eminence, stardom.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR celebrity ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsnon·ce·leb·ri·ty, noun, plural non·ce·leb·ri·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for celebrity

In the last year, her fusion exercise class has attracted a cult following and become de rigueur among the celebrity set.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What celebrity has started to talk about his or her eating disorder?
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
To do so is to deify a celebrity for being what we need them to be, while willfully ignoring who they really are.
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Whatever the excuse, in 2008 we were all subjected to Celebrity Apprentice.
Donald Trump Fires Woman For Not Calling Bill Cosby|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

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 Year|Amy Zimmerman|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But these pictures attain no celebrity because the public admire them, for it is not to the public that the judgment is intrusted.
The Poetry of Architecture|John Ruskin
For her own part she felt that she could not face Keith Rickman and his celebrity.
The Divine Fire|May Sinclair
She sketched for him as she had sketched for Tanqueray the horrors brought on her by her celebrity.
The Creators|May Sinclair
It had hurt her; but Stephen's celebrity was a dressing to her wound.
The Tree of Heaven|May Sinclair
To them Spain owes the culture of silk; they gave to Xeres and Malaga their celebrity for wine.
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2)|John William Draper

British Dictionary definitions for celebrity

celebrity

/ (sɪˈlɛbrɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

a famous persona show-business celebrity

fame or notoriety

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

celebrity

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"]

celebrity

noun, plural ce·leb·ri·ties for 1.

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Nearby words

Origin of celebrity

Examples from the Web for celebrity

British Dictionary definitions for celebrity

celebrity

noun plural -ties

Word Origin and History for celebrity

celebrity