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

The Beach Boys, Parmalee and Happy Landing will now be hitting the stage alongside dozens of other national and local pop, hip hop and rock stars at the first-of-its-kind festival. —Chyna Blackmon, Charlotte Observer, 11 Apr. 2024

Keenan's chicken:This Arizona rock star makes killer fried chicken. —Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2024

Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old president of the far-right National Rally party, was greeted like a rock star, snapping selfies with fans. —Emily Rauhala, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2024

The silver fox stayed true to his rock star pompadour, cleaning up the edges just a bit and keep length at the top. —Brittany Talarico, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024

What kind of rock star move is that, willingly playing second fiddle to a solar apocalypse? —Chris Willman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024

The British rock star has a history of showing up at bars and going relatively unnoticed. —Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024

Bash Brothers For much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the A’s were the rock stars of baseball. —Laurence Miedema, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2024

There’s nothing like the naked body of septuagenarian rock star plugging a definitely-not-real OnlyFans to remind you that today is, in fact, April Fools’ Day. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined at sense 1