Showing results for "starring"

• present participle of star.

starring

American  

[stahr-ing] / ˈstɑr ɪŋ /

adjective

1. featured or celebrated as a star in a movie, on a sports team, etc..

   He was already the starring quarterback on his high school football team, which was on its way to a state championship.

2. (of a character or role) leading, central, or primary.

   The earliest performance I can remember is when I played the starring role in a drama called The Littlest Angel at church.

   As the town’s largest employer, the university also plays a starring role in the local economy.

3. featuring a specified performer.

   They didn't give a beginner a starring movie when I started acting 18 years ago.

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Etymology

Origin of starring

star ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

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Explanation

Your attention-grabbing friend might be one who goes through life imagining it's a movie starring her. Starring means being the main character in a movie or play. Starring is an adjective that's used when someone's at the center of things, like a concert starring a famous cellist. The Greek word aster became the English word star, which was first used to mean "to be featured in a play" in the 1820s. If you imagine a star shining brightly in the dark night sky, it's easy to see how starring came to mean "being the most important on the stage."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

starring

Recent work includes Rocket’s 2026 Super Bowl ad featuring Lady Gaga and the kung-fu-inspired short film starring YouTuber IShowSpeed on behalf of Beats by Dre.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Holmes was convicted of defrauding investors in her medical testing company Theranos, fuelling a media circus that has been chronicled in books, podcasts and the mini-series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

During his tenure, Netflix rolled out high profile releases including “The Rip” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and the Oscar-winning animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” as well costly misfires such as “The Electric State.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Taken with the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it starring turn from Jonathan Majors in “Infidels,” The Daily Wire’s gambit becomes clear.

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

“With Scruffy, Nala, and, tonight, starring Fred as Duke! When trouble calls, it’s Dog Squad to the rescue!”

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

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