renowned
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- renownedly adverb
- renownedness noun
- unrenowned adjective
Etymology
Origin of renowned
Compare meaning
How does renowned compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Celebrated, gushed over, and even legendary, something that's renowned is really famous. If you not only find a cure for cancer, but you also go on lots of talk shows so everyone knows who you are, then you'll be a renowned scientist. Renown comes from the Anglo-Norman for "re-name," as in repeatedly name, so something renowned is something that people are talking about, or naming, over and over. If you are a huge celebrity, people from your home town might boast, "The renowned Madame X was born here." Something renowned is really good, not just famous. Just because you make the cover of a trashy tabloid magazine doesn't mean you're a renowned actress. But if you win an Oscar, you are.
Vocabulary lists containing renowned
More Positive Words to Describe a Person
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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.
Alice McLeod was a highly gifted and accomplished pianist who later became renowned for her mastery of the harp.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
BBC Sport speaks to WBO heavyweight world champion Fabio Wardley, two-weight world champion Natasha Jonas, boxing analyst Steve Bunce and renowned trainer Joe Gallagher to explore the big questions.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Memorial and Novaya Gazeta, both founded around the collapse of the Soviet Union, are Russia's two most reputable and renowned organisations reporting and documenting human rights abuses.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
Consolidation of the nation’s nearly trillion-dollar higher-education sector is driving a new winner-take-all market, benefiting Ivy League campuses, flagship public universities and schools with high-profile sports teams and renowned research institutions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Now one day some of those renowned seafaring men, sea-dogs, Phoinikians, came ashore with bags of gauds for trading.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
