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.
Wagner Moura’s riveting star turn in “The Secret Agent” made him the first Brazilian man nominated for an Academy Award for lead actor.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 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
Our critic praised the actress’s star turn, saying, she “gives a performance of extraordinary force, beauty and scorching truth.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 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.
