star turn
Americannoun
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the leading performer or act in a play, review, film, or the like.
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a bravura performance by a featured player or act.
Etymology
Origin of star turn
First recorded in 1905–10
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.
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” gets references in many lyrics, as well as a star turn in the Mark Knopfler ballad of the same name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
And so, a season that seemed like his long-awaited star turn ended with an all too familiar question: Is Sam Darnold actually any good?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
His star turn at Davos pushed his approval rating up to 60%, according to Canada’s Angus Reid Institute.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
Hernández’s humility about the star turn has been noticed.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2025
His musical efflorescence was tragically brief, but this is the man who turned the chord-strumming, jobbing electric guitar into a high-wire, virtuoso lead instrument, from also-ran to star turn.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
