celebrity
Americannoun
-
celebrities
plural
-
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
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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.
See Examples For:
Attendees came from all over Texas and were motivated far more by Pulido’s celebrity than his candidacy.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Roxy, 33, had been rooting for comedian and faithful Joanne McNally in the latest celebrity series, before she was banished by her fellow faithful on Thursday.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Lego hired Kelsey Gray Sherman, a vice president in WME’s entertainment marketing and advisory group, to be its head of celebrity talent and brand first partnerships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The current tallest building in West Hollywood is the 31-story Sierra Towers, a luxury condominium building on the city’s western border with Beverly Hills dating to the 1960s that has long been a celebrity haunt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
It was a great painting—it is perhaps the greatest Renaissance male portrait—but Baldassare Castiglione would never be a celebrity.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Falling head-over-heels for a home without actually stepping foot in it is a universal experience—and it impacts celebrities, too.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
In the episode, the sequence where the celebrities all voted for James in light of his admission was shown as a relatively quick and straightforward process, raising a question about what prompted Romesh's shocked look.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
This month, the opening of a new outpost of Canyon Ranch, the wellness resort popular with celebrities and spa junkies, kicks off a series of luxury arrivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Beyond that, the spa champions a culture of discretion that attracts celebrities and civilians alike.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Gossip columns had not found their way to the Internet, so we relied solely on monthly magazines for the latest on whom our favorite celebrities were dating.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
