as in stars
the person who has the most important role in a play, movie, or TV show
a headliner on variety shows in the early days of TV
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of headliners
The festival announced its upcoming artist lineup Thursday in an Instagram post, with headliners including Robyn, Swedish House Mafia and Dog Blood — a duo made up of Skrillex and Boys Noize.
—
Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 29 May 2026
Its headliners included Vanilla Ice, the Commodores, Bret Michaels of Poison, Flo Rida, Martina McBride, Milli Vanilli, and the C+C Music Factory—a handful of recognizable acts, albeit ones that had their respective heydays several decades ago.
—Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
And the headliners for the evening (Blesstonio, Jesse de la Peña and Mochi) will perform first, not last.
—Britt Julious, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026
Riot Fest has announced its 2026 festival lineup, with headliners including Tool, Alanis Morrissette, Twenty One Pilots and more.
—Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 28 May 2026
In recent years, headliners have included Pavement, Slowdive, the Jesus Lizard, Mastodon and Osees.
—Spin Staff, SPIN, 28 May 2026
For the last several years, Motorola’s smartphone headliners were the Razr flip phones, but 2026 is different.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
This year officially marks 18 years of the event, with Charli xcx, The Strokes, and Rüfüs Du Sol as headliners.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 23 May 2026
Particularly the undercard, not the headliners.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 22 May 2026
Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 29 May 2026
Its headliners included Vanilla Ice, the Commodores, Bret Michaels of Poison, Flo Rida, Martina McBride, Milli Vanilli, and the C+C Music Factory—a handful of recognizable acts, albeit ones that had their respective heydays several decades ago.
—Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
And the headliners for the evening (Blesstonio, Jesse de la Peña and Mochi) will perform first, not last.
—Britt Julious, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026
Riot Fest has announced its 2026 festival lineup, with headliners including Tool, Alanis Morrissette, Twenty One Pilots and more.
—Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 28 May 2026
In recent years, headliners have included Pavement, Slowdive, the Jesus Lizard, Mastodon and Osees.
—Spin Staff, SPIN, 28 May 2026
For the last several years, Motorola’s smartphone headliners were the Razr flip phones, but 2026 is different.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
This year officially marks 18 years of the event, with Charli xcx, The Strokes, and Rüfüs Du Sol as headliners.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 23 May 2026
Particularly the undercard, not the headliners.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headliners
Noun
-
At the time, the former HSMTMTS stars had been broken up for a while, and Bassett moved on with Carpenter.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
5 June 2026
-
Statham is one of the world’s most successful action stars, with a global box office surpassing $8 billion across his career with such major franchises as The Meg, Fast & Furious, and The Beekeeper under hie belt.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
Then, on Monday night, the district appeared to do an about-face on its initial directions via an email to principals.—
Rebecca Noel,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2026
-
The principals of Midsummer bear more than a passing resemblance to the reality TV casts of the 21st century.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headliners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headliners. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
