rock star

noun

plural rock stars

1

: a famous rock musician

From my standpoint, from '72 to '76, I was the ultimate rock star. I couldn't have been more of a rock star. Anything that had to do with being a rock 'n' roll singer was what I was going for.

—David Bowie

He's what I always thought rock stars should be: sexy, dangerous, outrageous, and funny. And at least a little self-aware.

—Doug Brod

2

: a highly accomplished and well-regarded person in a particular field

Locals came streaming across a muddy construction site on the Cooper River to catch a glimpse of the rock star of politics.

—Howard Fineman

The Colchester Boards of Selectmen, Finance and Education are the rock stars of our town's elected government.

—Jason Cohen

For the agency, whose mission is building soil health, Brandt [David Brandt, farmer] has emerged as a kind of rock star. He's a "step ahead of the game."

—Tom Philpott

Pale-faced and bespectacled, the 43-year-old Chudzinski is an emerging rock star in NFL coaching circles.

—David G Fleming

… the day of the celebrity chef is seriously upon us. Chefs have become the rock stars of their generation, and we all long to know them better.

—Ruth Reichl

Examples of rock star in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As Aleister gets the rock star treatment, the band takes a back seat as their friendship is put to the test. —Giana Levy, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025

Deliver Me From Nowhere are real, Bruce’s romantic interest, Faye Romano (Odessa Young), is a fictional character, based on several of the rock star’s girlfriends at the time. —Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 24 Oct. 2025

Alice Cooper discovered his love of entertaining in the Cortez High School cafetorium, returning to the Valley in the ’80s after finding fame and fortune as the rock star most likely to inspire sleepless nights for sheltered parents of Boomers Gone Wild. —Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 23 Oct. 2025

First, however, the rock star has to come perilously close to hitting rock bottom. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rock star

• adar
• afar
• ajar
• alar
• ansar
• bazaar
• bizarre
• boxcar
• boyar
• bulbar
• cachar
• cigar