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
This year, some headliners include Marshmello, Kygo, Tiesto, Fisher, Disclosure, John Summit, and more.
—
Sydney Lake, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026
While their genre peers’ fates have varied, Mumford & Sons remained perennial arena and festival headliners, with an ambitious midcareer streak in the studio.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Saturday’s headliners include Jhené Aiko, GloRilla, Ella Mai, Mýa, Joe and a set by DJ D-Nice featuring appearances from SWV, Robin Thicke, Sunshine Anderson and others.
—Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2026
Thursday's headliners are listed as My Chemical Romance and The Offspring.
—Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
Filmmaker Spike Jonze and California Governor Gavin Newsom are among the headliners at Vox Media’s podcast stage during the South by Southwest Conference and Festival, which runs March 12–18 in Austin.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 4 Mar. 2026
The festival dropped its full lineup Tuesday morning, which included 11 headliners over the three-day event.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Baltimore’s pitching has upside, with Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz among the headliners.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2026
The festival — which focuses on Y2K era rock with past headliners like Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and the Killers — has taken place at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds every October from 2022 to 2025.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2026
Sydney Lake, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026
While their genre peers’ fates have varied, Mumford & Sons remained perennial arena and festival headliners, with an ambitious midcareer streak in the studio.
—Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Saturday’s headliners include Jhené Aiko, GloRilla, Ella Mai, Mýa, Joe and a set by DJ D-Nice featuring appearances from SWV, Robin Thicke, Sunshine Anderson and others.
—Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2026
Thursday's headliners are listed as My Chemical Romance and The Offspring.
—Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
Filmmaker Spike Jonze and California Governor Gavin Newsom are among the headliners at Vox Media’s podcast stage during the South by Southwest Conference and Festival, which runs March 12–18 in Austin.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 4 Mar. 2026
The festival dropped its full lineup Tuesday morning, which included 11 headliners over the three-day event.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Baltimore’s pitching has upside, with Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz among the headliners.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2026
The festival — which focuses on Y2K era rock with past headliners like Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and the Killers — has taken place at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds every October from 2022 to 2025.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headliners
Noun
-
This isn’t just a local problem; the Astrophage are eating stars everywhere, like ants at an intergalactic picnic.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The stars are turning down the volume, but not changing the message.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
About 36% of the principals, who were surveyed from May to August, said students from immigrant families had been bullied, and 64% said their attendance had dropped.—
Ruben Vives,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Ortiz and Intriago were principals of Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, collectively known as CTU, and Veintemilla was a principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group.—
David Fischer,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headliners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headliners. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
