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. )

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

Arm is destined to play a starring role in the market for server CPUs, which could quadruple to $137 billion by the end of the decade, according to Bernstein.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

This debate over race mirrors earlier controversies surrounding Halle Bailey starring in “The Little Mermaid” and other diverse casting choices in fantasy and literary adaptations.

From Salon • May 16, 2026

Brian has sophomore twins Kelsey and Keira in starring roles.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

"Nagi Notes", starring Takako Matsu and Shizuka Ishibashi, explores the overlapping lives of a cast of characters in rural Okayama Prefecture, each lonely in their own way.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

On one occasion, after he failed to appear for several potentially lucrative races, his agent found him starring in a bull-riding exhibition.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand