Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

public figure

American  
[puhb-lik fig-yer] / ˈpʌb lɪk ˈfɪg yər /

noun

  1. a person who is widely known; celebrity.

    The journalist talked about the often troubled relationship between public figures and the news media.

    Famous athletes, actors, and other public figures have championed the issue.

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.

“Being a public figure, I’ve always sold,” explains Wilkinson.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

The crown princess is far from the only public figure in Norway to be caught up in the Epstein files.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

Breuer’s evangelizing has made him an important public figure in a country unaccustomed to seeing and hearing from men in uniform.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

He teaches at Harvard and is a well-known public figure — a history communicator, scholar and storyteller and a minor TV star the world also knows as “Skip.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026

Not just a respectable grocer or dry cleaner or doctor, but a larger public figure who was willing to speak and act outside the tight sphere of his family.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

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.