limelight
Americannoun
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Theater.
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(formerly) a lighting unit for spotlighting the front of the stage, producing illumination by means of a flame of mixed gases directed at a cylinder of lime and having a special lens for concentrating the light in a strong beam.
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the light so produced.
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Chiefly British. a lighting unit, especially a spotlight.
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the center of public attention, interest, observation, or notoriety.
He seems fond of the limelight.
noun
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a position of public attention or notice (esp in the phrase in the limelight )
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a type of lamp, formerly used in stage lighting, in which light is produced by heating lime to white heat
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Also called: calcium light. brilliant white light produced in this way
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of limelight
Explanation
To be in the limelight is to be at the center of public attention. It might make you a little jealous if your best friend's acting career suddenly puts her in the limelight. When a newly popular musician finds himself in the limelight, he might be surprised at all the attention. Someone who's in the limelight is constantly being talked about, interviewed, and photographed. In the early 1800's, theater stages were lit by heating a cylinder of the mineral called lime — the result was an intensely bright white light. The word limelight came to have its figurative meaning of "at the center of attention" in 1877.
Vocabulary lists containing limelight
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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.
The big question now, Roberts said, is whether the Sussexes try to steal the limelight in England, casting themselves as a trendier celebrity alternative to the establishment royals—a modern version of a rival court.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Mostly they knowingly forfeit the cash to have their 15 minutes in the limelight, sending up the pageantry of British politics.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
Did the fun of the film festival circuit eventually become a blinding limelight, through which Adrian couldn’t see past as he got older?
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
He thinks he can steer the struggling brand back into the limelight by giving it more attention and ideas than it has had in decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
He was the kind of man who worked hard, enjoyed circumventing risks, and avoided the limelight.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
