renowned
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of renowned
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How does renowned compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Celebrated, gushed over, and even legendary, something that's renowned is really famous. If you not only find a cure for cancer, but you also go on lots of talk shows so everyone knows who you are, then you'll be a renowned scientist. Renown comes from the Anglo-Norman for "re-name," as in repeatedly name, so something renowned is something that people are talking about, or naming, over and over. If you are a huge celebrity, people from your home town might boast, "The renowned Madame X was born here." Something renowned is really good, not just famous. Just because you make the cover of a trashy tabloid magazine doesn't mean you're a renowned actress. But if you win an Oscar, you are.
Vocabulary lists containing renowned
More Positive Words to Describe a Person
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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.
On Sunday, renowned Nepali mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, smashed his own world record for the most summits of Everest, after scaling it for a 32nd time.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
It moved inland in 1910, moved again a few years later, and then in the mid-1930s moved into a purpose-built building in Baldwin Hills, one designed by the renowned architect Richard Neutra with prefab walls.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
What to Do: Catch a performance at Tanglewood Music Center, one of the country’s most renowned outdoor music venues.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
A renowned Nepali mountain guide has broken his own world record for the most summits of Mount Everest, after scaling the world's tallest peak for the 32nd time.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
One of the Freedom Riders, John Lewis, of Georgia, would eventually become a renowned congressman.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
