premiere

1 of 3

noun

pre·​miere pri-ˈmyer How to pronounce premiere (audio) -ˈmir How to pronounce premiere (audio)
-ˈmē-ər;
ˌpri-mē-ˈer
variants or less commonly première
plural premieres also premières
1
: a first performance or exhibition
the premiere of a play
the show's premiere episode
2
: the chief actress of a theatrical cast

premiere

2 of 3

verb

pre·​miere
variants or less commonly première or premier
pri-ˈmyer How to pronounce premiere (audio) -ˈmir How to pronounce premiere (audio)
-ˈmē-ər;
ˌpri-mē-ˈer
premiered also premièred; premiering also premièring

intransitive verb

1
: to have a first public performance
2
: to appear for the first time as a star performer

transitive verb

: to give a first public performance of

premiere

3 of 3

adjective

pre·​miere pri-ˈmyer How to pronounce premiere (audio) -ˈmir How to pronounce premiere (audio)
-ˈmē-ər;
ˌpri-mē-ˈer
: premier
In addition to the sporting events, Lillehammer also offers one of Norway's premiere cultural sites in the Maihaugen Open Air Museum …William E. Schmidt

Examples of premiere in a Sentence

Noun The movie will have its premiere next week. Verb The movie premieres next week.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
And while the result isn’t quite a revolutionary reframing, Steinmetz’s staging for Signature Theatre — the show’s area premiere, after an initial production at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival last fall — makes an intelligently emotional case for the shift in focus. Trey Graham, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor both exclusively shared PEOPLE at the premiere of their new Bravo showThe Valley how contentious moments led to their recent separation. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 The 2024 Miami Film Festival will celebrate more than 180 feature narratives, documentaries, and short films of all genres, from over 31 countries worldwide, featuring 10 World premieres, 10 North American premieres, five U.S. premieres, and 11 east coast premieres, and 42 Florida premieres. William Earl, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024 The Prank premiere Rita Moreno walked the carpet on Wednesday for the L.A. premiere of her film The Prank. Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2024 Grey's Anatomy ended its season 20 premiere with the news that Nick (Scott Speedman) is leaving the hospital, seemingly to be with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) in Boston, which means someone needs to take over the (struggling) intern program. Samantha Highfill, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2024 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images WATCH Baggy Jeans, Baby Hairs, and Haute Couture: Jennifer Lopez Sounds off on Her Life in Looks The same Dune premiere saw Anya Taylor-Joy shaking out her signature peroxide lengths worthy of the early 19th century, her look inspired, in part, by her Galliano gown. Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 14 Mar. 2024 Now, with 30 Grey's writing credits to her name, including the upcoming premiere, Marinis is ready to show audiences what she's made of in the lead role. Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 14 Mar. 2024 The reel in question was shown before the premiere of the new rom-com The Fall Guy. Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024
Verb
House of the Dragon season 2 will premiere in June, PEOPLE can confirm. Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 5 Mar. 2024 The network announced Monday (March 4) that the father-daughter duo would again be taking the game show stage for its upcoming seventh installment, which premieres May 28. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 4 Mar. 2024 But viewers of the second part, which premiered Friday, still might exit the theater with some questions. Lucas Trevor, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2024 The show premieres tomorrow, March 5, with new episodes airing Tuesdays and Thursdays on Apple Music 1 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2024 And over on Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown's new film, Damsel, premieres on Friday. Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 3 Mar. 2024 Now, Netflix is the show’s exclusive home for Season Two, which premiered on February 29. Dana Feldman, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 In April, Hulu premiered Ramy, which Youssef co-created and based on his own life and struggles. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024 The play premiered in 2011 at the 35th Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Ky., and went on to be produced at South Coast Rep in California and more theaters across the country. Angelique Jackson, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Part Two premiere afterparty, with Casamigos, at N.Y.C.'s Museum of Natural History on Feb. 25. 93 of 100 Neighborhood Stroll Ryan Reynolds sports a casual look while walking through N.Y.C.'s West Village on Feb. 26. Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 28 Feb. 2024 Shipping times for Apple’s premiere headset have improved to just 3-5 days, whereas shipping estimates during pre-orders were over a month. Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Feb. 2024 Measurements for Paramount+ shows are for 12 weeks after premiere; Yellowstone is weeks in streaming top 10. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2024 Whether Allegri will be there next season to guide Juve in Europe’s premiere competition remains to be seen. Emmet Gates, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 The airline's premiere eclipse route is Flight 1218, which will depart from Austin, Texas (AUS), at 12:15 p.m. Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 That represents a 57% increase over the show’s premiere viewership in January. Joe Otterson, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024 More recently, Collins shared an Instagram carousel of herself holding a script for the season 4 premiere episode. Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 21 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, the Wild Kratts and Nature Cat movies, derived from the two series, premiere April 1 and April 22, respectively. Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'premiere.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

(sense 1) borrowed from French première, short for première représentation "first performance"; (sense 2) probably noun derivative of premiere entry 3

Verb

verb derivative of premiere entry 1

Adjective

alteration of premier entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1927, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Adjective

1768, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of premiere was in 1768

Dictionary Entries Near premiere

Cite this Entry

“Premiere.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premiere. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

premiere

1 of 2 noun
: a first performance or showing
premiere of a play

premiere

2 of 2 adjective
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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