celebrity
Americannoun
-
a famous or well-known person.
-
fame; renown.
- Synonyms:
- stardom, eminence, note, distinction
noun
-
a famous person
a show-business celebrity
-
fame or notoriety
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of celebrity
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin celebritās multitude, fame, festal celebration, equivalent to celebr- (stem of celeber ) often repeated, famous + -itās -ity
Explanation
A celebrity is a very famous person. If you single-handedly save an entire family from a burning building, you'll become a local celebrity. Celebrity comes directly from the Latin celebritatum, meaning famous, and is related to the verb celebrate which means to honor something with the proper ritual. We usually use celebrity now when we talk about entertainment stars, but someone doesn't have to be on the supermarket tabloids to be a celebrity. Celebrity can also be used to mean the state of fame. If you are seeking celebrity, develop a thick skin for nasty rumors.
Vocabulary lists containing celebrity
And the Oscar Goes to... Award-worthy Words
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Academy Awards, List 5
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Lesson 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Celebrity Chef Tom Kerridge is leading the campaign, arguing that pubs "bring people together and bring life to our cities, towns and villages, but they're under huge pressure from rising costs."
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
The two winners will sit in New York’s Celebrity Row, a section that typically features mainstays like Ben Stiller, Fat Joe and Timothee Chalamet.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
The spin-off series sees a number of celebrities face cooking challenges, with judges overseeing their culinary skills until one star makes it to the end to claim the Celebrity MasterChef trophy.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson declared it one of 10 foods she couldn’t live without.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
Hassan asked while Colin was trying to think whether a worthwhile soul in all of human history had ever read a single copy of Celebrity Living.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
