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.
Should the primary screen become disabled, a secondary gearshift selector hiding in the headliner will illuminate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Rumblings of the new project first surfaced in April when Karol G performed at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as its first Latina headliner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Festival producer Dougie Brown said it was rare to lose a headliner but Razorlight had been asked to step up to the slot.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 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
He was the headliner, performing after six other gifted young pianists.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
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.
