celebrity

[suh-leb-ri-tee]

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noun, plural ce·leb·ri·ties for 1.

a famous or well-known person.

fame; renown.

Origin of celebrity

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

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

Synonyms for celebrity

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2. distinction, note, eminence, stardom.

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

Examples from the Web for celebrity

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of celebrity

But those who are caught in the clutches of celebrity at the age of twenty know nothing.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
Judge Andrews gave immediate promise of celebrity as an advocate.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin
But let Celebrity stand there and enjoy her hour; to-morrow the Ploughman will come.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Celebrity has fallen on me at last, though, and I'm to go at Easter.
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
He may have become a celebrity, a rich man,—Heaven knows what.
One Of Them
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for celebrity

celebrity

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

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"]