matinée idol
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of matinée idol
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
Some movie stars appear to have already accepted the demise of the matinée idol and jumped to streaming services.
From BBC • May 24, 2024
Jamie Lee Curtis is Hollywood royalty: her parents were Janet Leigh, the star of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” and Tony Curtis, the matinée idol from “Sweet Smell of Success.”
From The New Yorker • Dec. 1, 2019
After the matinée idol Rudolph Valentino died, in 1926, some hundred thousand fans mobbed the streets of New York during his funeral, smashing windows and clamoring to get a last glimpse of his face.
From The New Yorker • Sep. 9, 2019
Joseph Estrada, a former matinée idol who had often played Robin Hood types, rose to the presidency by promising to be hard on bad guys and good to the poor.
From Economist • Sep. 14, 2017
Mortimer Farwell is—or was—the most popular matinée idol on the stage.
From Kildares of Storm by Kelly, Eleanor Mercein
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.
