headliner
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of headliner
Explanation
A headliner is the main act. At a rock concert, you usually have to sit through an opening band or two before the headliner comes on stage. The headliner is the biggest star or the main event. The headliner at a jazz festival is the most popular performer, the one most audience members came to see, and the headliner of a musical theater review is the star of the show. In the early 1890's, a headliner worked for a newspaper — the word originally meant "one who writes headlines." By the end of that decade, it had come to also mean "one who stars in a performance."
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.
This year the event will be staged at the Hydro and will feature performances by headliner KT Tunstall, Callum Beattie, Nathan Evans, Tom Walker and Saint Phnx.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Trump then announced himself as the headliner, boasting online that he could draw larger audiences than Elvis Presley and promising music chosen to suit his supporters.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Please run your imaginary hand across the microfiber suede-wrapped headliner, interrupted only by the corner-to-corner sunroof.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Instead, it was a sad affair, thrown together at the last minute and unable to book anyone more interesting than Kid Rock as a headliner.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
The headliner in the 5,000 meters— three miles and 188 yards—was Norman Bright, a twenty-six-year-old schoolteacher.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
