star

1 of 3

noun

ˈstär 

often attributive

1

a

: a natural luminous body visible in the sky especially at night

b

: a self-luminous gaseous spheroidal celestial body of great mass which produces energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions

2

a(1)

: a planet or a configuration of the planets that is held in astrology to influence one's destiny or fortune

—usually used in plural

(2)

: a waxing or waning fortune or fame

her star was rising

b

obsolete : destiny

3

a

: a conventional figure with five or more points that represents a star

especially : asterisk

b

: an often star-shaped ornament or medal worn as a badge of honor, authority, or rank or as the insignia of an order

c

: one of a group of conventional stars used to place something in a scale of value

4

: something resembling a star

was hit on the head and saw stars

5

a

: the principal member of a theatrical or operatic company who usually plays the chief roles

b

: a highly publicized theatrical or movie performer

c

: an outstandingly talented performer

a track star

d

: a person who is preeminent in a particular field

starless

ˈstär-ləs 

adjective

starlike

ˈstär-ˌlīk 

adjective

star

2 of 3

verb

starred; starring; stars

1

a

intransitive : to play the most prominent or important role in a movie, play, etc.

an actor currently starring in a hit Broadway show

She had a starring role in his latest film.

(figurative) Tequila and blood oranges star in this Margarita, which gets a spicy kick from homemade jalapeño syrup.

—Natalie Migliarini

b

transitive : to feature (a performer) in the most prominent or important role

a movie that stars a famous stage personality

2

intransitive : to perform outstandingly

In the fall of 1925, Elkins starred on the gridiron …

—Bil Gilbert

[Alan] Trammell, who starred for the Tigers at shortstop during the glory days of the 1980s …

—Jeff Bradley

3

transitive

a

: to mark with a star as being superior or preeminent in some way

a monument starred in the guidebook

a starred review

b

: to mark with an asterisk

4

transitive : to sprinkle or adorn with or as if with stars

… meadows starred with buttercups and daisies.

—Kenneth Roberts

star

3 of 3

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or being a star

received star billing

2

: of outstanding excellence : preeminent

a star athlete

Synonyms

Noun

• luminary
• sphere
• sun

Adjective

• astral
• starry
• stellar

Examples of star in a Sentence

Noun

They gazed up at the stars.

There are billions of stars in the universe.

I'm glad we didn't use the tent. It's so much nicer to sleep outside under the stars.

The restaurant was awarded four stars for excellence.

Critics give the movie three stars.

Verb

The new television series stars a famous movie actress.

a concert starring some of the biggest names in the business

He starred in both baseball and football when he was in college.

She starred for the basketball team last year.

This restaurant is starred in the guidebook.

Adjective

looking for star actors to play the leads

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Here's what stars, constellations are the best to spot in May Stargazing this May? —Greta Cross, USA Today, 25 May 2025

Outside of Kelce’s training, the stars have both been enjoying some downtime as of late, a source recently told PEOPLE. —Bailey Richards, People.com, 24 May 2025

Verb

Moura stars as Marcelo, a tech expert desperate to escape hitmen during Carnival in the Brazilian metropole of Recife in The Secret Agent, the Competition entry that also won Kleber Mendonça Filho the Best Director prize. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 26 May 2025

Gutierrez-Reed, who worked on the Western film co-written by and starring Alec Baldwin, was found guilty in March 2024 for her involvement in the October 2021 death of Hutchins, who was fatally shot when Baldwin's gun discharged during rehearsals. —Edward Segarra, USA Today, 26 May 2025

Adjective

Now 6, McCullough's son will testify during the trial and could prove to be the star witness for prosecutors. —Chris Spargo, People.com, 29 Apr. 2025

Fast evaluation If Hunter lives up to the hype of a star two-way player for most of a decade, the trade compensation will likely be an afterthought. —Jeff Howe, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sterre, stere "star, planet, constellation," going back to Old English steorra (Northumbrian stearra), masculine weak noun, going back to a Germanic n-stem paradigm *sterōn (nominative), *sterraz (genitive), going back to pre-Germanic *h₂stér-ōn, *h₂ster-n-ós (whence also Old Frisian stēra "star," Old Saxon & Old High German sterro, Middle Dutch sterre, and, with reintroduction of *-rn- from oblique forms with presumed initial stress, Middle Dutch sterne "star," Old High German sterno, Old Icelandic stjarna, Gothic stairno), going back to Indo-European *h₂ster- "star," whence, with varying thematizations, Old Irish ser "star" (attested once), Welsh sêr "stars" (singular seren), Old Breton sterenn "star," Greek aster-, astḗr "star (usually in reference to a particular heavenly body)," ástra "stars" (with a secondary singular ástron), Tocharian A śreñ "stars," Tocharian B ścirye "star," Sanskrit stār- (nominative plural tā́raḥ, instrumental plural stṛ́bhiḥ), Avestan star-, Hittite ḫašter-; with a suffixal -l- Latin stēlla "star, heavenly body" (perhaps < *stēr(e)lā), Armenian astł (perhaps < *h₂stēr-l-)

Note: The etymon *h₂ster- is attested in all major subfamilies of Indo-European, with the apparent exception of Balto-Slavic and Albanian. The original paradigm can be reconstructed as *h₂stḗr (nominative), *h₂stér-m̥ (accusative), *h₂str-ó-s (genitive); it is preserved best in Greek. The Germanic forms show the action of Kluge's Law (to those who accept it), according to which *-rn- is reduced to a geminate *-rr- before an accented syllable. The original *-rn- has found its way back into the base form in North and East Germanic, but only partially in West Germanic (it is lacking completely in Anglo-Frisian). The Indo-European etymology can be carried further, if the base *h₂ster- is seen as a reduction of *h₂h₁ster-, an agentive derivative of *h₂eh₁s- "burn, make dry with heat" (see arid); the star would hence the thing that burns or glows (see D. Adams, A Dictionary of Tocharian B, Revised and Greatly Enlarged [Rodopi, 2013], p. 701). A different and less straightforward derivation is proposed by G.-J. Pinault ("A Star Is Born: A 'New' PIE *-ter- Suffix," A.J. Nussbaum, editor, Verba Docenti [Ann Arbor, 2007], pp. 271-79). Earlier proposals that see the origin of the Indo-European star etymon in the names of Semitic deities of the morning and evening star (Phoenician *‛aštart, rendered by the Greeks as Astártē; Akkadian ištar) now seem improbable.

Verb

derivative of star entry 1

Adjective

from attributive use of star entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing star

• all-star
• an all-star cast
• basket star
• binary star
• blazing star
• brittle star
• co-star
• double star
• evening star
• falling star
• feather star
• five-star
• fixed star
• four-star
• giant star
• lone star tick
• morning star
• multiple star
• neutron star
• radio star
• red star
• rising star
• rock star
• sea star
• shooting star
• star anise
• star apple
• star attraction
• star-chamber
• star-crossed
• star facet
• star fruit
• star grass
• star-maker
• star-nosed mole
• star of Bethlehem
• star quality
• star route
• star sapphire
• star shell
• star sign
• star-spangled
• star-studded
• star system
• star thistle
• star turn
• the evening star
• the morning star
• variable star
• X-ray star

Rhymes for star

• ar
• are
• bar
• barr
• car
• carr
• char
• charr
• czar
• far
• farre
• haar

Kids Definition

star

1 of 3 noun

ˈstär 

1

a

: a natural body visible in the sky especially at night that gives off light or shines by reflection

b

: a ball-shaped gaseous celestial body (as the sun) of great mass that shines by its own light

2

: a planet or an arrangement of the planets that is believed in astrology to influence one's life

—usually used in plural

3

: a figure or thing (as an asterisk or badge) with five or more points that represents or resembles a star

4

a

: the principal member of a theater or opera company

b

: a very talented or popular performer

football stars

TV stars

starlike

-ˌlīk 

adjective

star

2 of 3 verb

starred; starring

1

: to sprinkle or adorn with stars

2

a

: to mark with a star as being superior

b

: to mark with an asterisk

3

: to present in the role of a star

4

: to play the most important role

will produce and star in a new play

5

: to perform outstandingly

starred at shortstop in the series

star

3 of 3 adjective

1

: of, relating to, or being a star

2

: being of outstanding excellence : preeminent

star athlete

our star trumpeter