fame
Americannoun
-
widespread reputation, especially of a favorable character; renown; public eminence.
to seek fame as an opera singer.
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common estimation or opinion generally held of a person or thing; reputation.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the state of being widely known or recognized; renown; celebrity
-
archaic rumour or public report
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fame
1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin fāma talk, public opinion, repute, akin to fārī to speak
Explanation
Fame is what you have if you're a celebrity: a lot of people know who you are. A musician's fame might mean she wears sunglasses and a baseball cap to disguise herself when she's in public. Movie stars, rock stars, well-known public figures — these are all people who have achieved some amount of fame. You may have a kind of fame in a much smaller sphere: "She won every spelling bee in the state, which gave her some fame at her school." Fame is an Old French word that means "reputation or renown," from the Latin fama, "rumor, reputation, or renown," and also "ill-fame" or "scandal."
Vocabulary lists containing fame
Academy Awards, List 5
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"Mysteries of the Ancient Past"
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"The New Colossus"
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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.
Capybaras’ internet fame traces back at least to 2007, when Caplin Rous, a 6-week-old capybara, licked a camera.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
As his fame rose through the early 1960, Rollins took to practising for hours every day on New York's Williamsburg Bridge.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Rollins stepped away from music and fame a second time at the end of the 1960s, feeling burned out.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
A Harlem native, Base was part of a hip-hop duo with DJ E-Z Rock, a musical force that sprung to fame in 1988 with the release of It Takes Two.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
The cause of this long-lasting fame was a war told of in one of the world’s greatest poems, the Iliad, and the cause of the war went back to a dispute between three jealous goddesses.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
