marquee

1 of 2

noun

mar·​quee mär-ˈkē 

1

chiefly British : a large tent set up for an outdoor party, reception, or exhibition

2

a

: a permanent canopy often of metal and glass projecting over an entrance (as of a hotel or theater)

The hotel doorman was stationed under the marquee.

b

: a sign usually over the entrance of a theater or arena that displays the names of featured attractions and principal performers

The brightly lighted marquee displayed the title of the movie currently featured.

marquee

2 of 2

adjective

: having or associated with the name recognition and attraction of one whose name appears on a marquee : big-name, star

marquee athletes

marquee events

Examples of marquee in a Sentence

Noun

She dreamed of seeing her name on the theater marquee.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

All of the works will appear in a contemporary art day sale during the marquee auctions. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 27 Apr. 2026

Bregman wasn’t fazed by it, slugging a game-tying home run in the eighth inning Friday for his first marquee moment in a Cubs uniform. —Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026

Adjective

Outrage quickly ensued as Angelenos encountered both technical difficulties and sky-high prices for even non-marquee events, with many lower-bowl seats going for multiple hundreds of dollars and in some cases, thousands. —Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 13 Apr. 2026

In 2023, Shohei Ohtani’s emphatic strikeout of Mike Trout to cap the tournament became the marquee moment of the WBC. —Katie Woo, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Adjective

modification of French marquise, literally, marchioness

First Known Use

Noun

1690, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1946, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for marquee

• agree
• allee
• banshee
• beastly
• bibi
• bowsprit
• carefree
• cerci
• chablis
• cowpea
• crappie
• crappy

Kids Definition

marquee

noun

mar·​quee

mär-ˈkē

1

: a large tent set up for an outdoor party or exhibition

2

: a rooflike structure sticking out over an entrance

a theater marquee