fame

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fame

widespread reputation, esp. of a favorable character; renown; public eminence: His fame as a writer grew with each novel he wrote.
Not to be confused with:
notability – distinction, prominence: She is a doctor of great notability.
notoriety – shame; infamy; disrepute; known widely and unfavorably: The extensive news coverage of his trial for murdering his wife brought him notoriety.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

fame

 (fām)
n.
1.
a. The state of being widely known, widely recognized, or of great popular interest: a singer of international fame.
b. Public estimation; reputation: a politician of ill fame.
2. Archaic Rumor.
tr.v. famed, fam·ing, fames
1. To make renowned or famous.
2. Archaic To report to be: "The fancy cannot cheat so well / As she is famed to do" (John Keats).

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fāma; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fame

(feɪm)
n
1. the state of being widely known or recognized; renown; celebrity
2. archaic rumour or public report
vb
(tr; now usually passive) to make known or famous; celebrate: he was famed for his ruthlessness.
[C13: from Latin fāma report; related to fārī to say]
famed adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fame

(feɪm)

n., v. famed, fam•ing. n.
1. renown; public eminence.
2. public estimation; reputation.
v.t.
3. Archaic. to spread the renown of; make famous.
[1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin fāma talk]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

fame

- Also meant "reputation" in early contexts.
See also related terms for reputation.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fame

 

See Also: GREATNESS

  1. Celebrities … get consumed just as fast as new improved soaps, new clothing fashions and new ideas —Russell Baker
  2. Celebrities used to be found like pearls in oysters and with much the same defensive mechanisms —Barbara Walters
  3. Celebrity is like having an extra lump of sugar in your coffee —Mikhail Baryshnikov
  4. Fame always melts like ice cream in the dish —Delmore Schwartz
  5. Fame grows like a tree with hidden life —Horace
  6. Fame is a colored patch on a ragged garment —Alexander Pushkin
  7. Fame is like a crop of Canada thistles, very easy to sow, but hard to reap —Josh Billings

    In Billings’ phonetic dialect this reads: “Fame is like a crop ov kanada thissels, very eazy tew sew, but hard tew reap.”

  8. Fame isn’t a thing. It’s a feeling. Like what you get after a pill —Joyce Cary
  9. Fame … it’s like having a string of pearls given you. It’s nice, but after a while, if you think of it at all, it’s only to wonder if they’re real or cultured —W. Somerset Maugham
  10. Fame, like a river, is narrowest at its source and broadest afar off —Proverb
  11. Fame, like a wayward girl, will still be coy to those who woo her with too slavish knees —John Keats
  12. Fame, like man, will grow white as it grows old —Abraham Cowley
  13. Fame, like water, bears up the lighter things, and lets the weighty sink —Sir Samuel Tuke

    A slight variation by Francis Bacon: “Fame is like a river, that bears (modernized from ‘beareth’) on things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid.”

  14. Fame to the ambitious, is like salt water to the thirsty, the more one gets the more he wants —Emil Ebers
  15. Glories, like glow-worms afar off, shine bright, but looked at near have neither heat nor light —John Webster

    Slightly modernized from “Afar off shine bright, but look’d too near have neither heat nor light.”

  16. Glory is like a circle in the water, which never ceases to enlarge itself till by broad spreading it disperse to nought —William Shakespeare

    Shakespeare used the old English ‘ceathes.’

  17. Her life had become akin to living inside a drum with the whole world beating on the outside —Barbara Seaman

    In her biography of Susann, Lovely Me, this is how Seaman describes her subject’s life after she becomes a famous author.

  18. Like grass that autumn yellows your fame will wither away —Phyllis McGinley
  19. Like madness is the glory of this life —William Shakespeare
  20. Men’s fame is like their hair, which grows after they are dead, and with just as little use to them —George Villiers
  21. Our glories float between the earth and heaven like clouds which seem pavilions of the son —Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  22. Posterity is a switchboard to past, present and future —Karl Shapiro
  23. The public’s appetite for famous people is big as a mountain —Robert Motherwell, New York Times, January 22, 1986
  24. The way to fame is like the way to heaven, through much tribulation —Lawrence Sterne
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fame

 

in good odor In favor, in good repute; highly regarded, esteemed. Odor in this phrase means ‘repute, estimation.’ In good odor appeared in print as early as the mid-19th century. Also current is its opposite in bad or ill repute ‘out of favor, disreputable.’

When a person is in ill odour it is quite wonderful how weak the memories of his former friends become. (Charles Haddon Spur-geon, The Treasury of David, 1870)

in the limelight In the public eye; famous or infamous; featured; acclaimed; exalted. Before the discovery of electricity, theater spotlights burned a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases in a lime (calcium oxide) cylinder. This produced an intense light which could be focused by lenses on a featured actor or actress, thus drawing the audience’s attention to that performer.

The town hardly gets its full share of the limelight because of the hero. (Aldous Huxley, Letters, 1934)

name in lights Fame, notoriety, recognition, acclaim. In the world of theater, the name of a well-known or featured actor or actress may be displayed in lights on the marquee over the theater’s entrance, thus drawing the public’s attention and, it is hoped, their patronage.

I couldn’t wait to get up there with the best of them and see my name up in lights—topping the bill at the Palladium. (Guardian, January 15, 1972)

In contemporary usage, this expression is sometimes employed figuratively, and is no longer strictly limited to performing artists.

a place in the sun A position of favor, prominence, or recognition; a nice, warm, comfortable spot; a share in the blessings of the earth. Theoretically every individual is entitled to the benefits symbolized by the sun—life, growth, prosperity. The expression has been traced back to Pascal’s Pensées, translated as follows:

This dog’s mine, says the poor child: this is my place, in the sun. (Bishop Kennett, Pascal’s Thoughts, 1727)

put on the map To establish the prominence of a person or place; to make well known or famous. This expression originally referred to an obscure community which, following the occurrence of a newsworthy event, was noted on maps. The common phrase now describes a happening that thrusts a person or object into the public limelight.

“The Fortune Hunter,” the play that put Winchell Smith on the dramatists’ map. (Munsey’s Magazine, June, 1916)

set the world on fire To achieve far-reaching success and renown; to make a name for one-self. This expression originated from the British set the Thames on fire, in which Thames is sometimes mistakenly thought to be derived homonymously from temse ‘sieve,’ through feeble allusion to a hard worker who uses a sieve with such celerity that the friction causes a fire. This theory is discounted by the fact that the French, Germans, and Italians all have similar sayings in regard to their own historic waterways, sayings which predate the English phrase. Thus, set the Thames on fire is undoubtedly the English version of the foreign expressions. When the phrase reached the United States, it was apparently Americanized to set the river on fire. As worldwide commerce and communication evolved, the phrase assumed its more cosmopolitan but somewhat less phenomenal form of set the world on fire. While the expression today usually implies the success of a vital and ambitious person, it is also applied negatively to the nonsuccess of a slow or lazy person. The term perhaps gained greater popularity through its incorporation into the lyrics of Bennie Benjamin’s song /Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire (1941).

Picturesque Expressions: A Thematic Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1980 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

fame


Past participle: famed
Gerund: faming

Imperative
fame
fame
Present
I fame
you fame
he/she/it fames
we fame
you fame
they fame
Preterite
I famed
you famed
he/she/it famed
we famed
you famed
they famed
Present Continuous
I am faming
you are faming
he/she/it is faming
we are faming
you are faming
they are faming
Present Perfect
I have famed
you have famed
he/she/it has famed
we have famed
you have famed
they have famed
Past Continuous
I was faming
you were faming
he/she/it was faming
we were faming
you were faming
they were faming
Past Perfect
I had famed
you had famed
he/she/it had famed
we had famed
you had famed
they had famed
Future
I will fame
you will fame
he/she/it will fame
we will fame
you will fame
they will fame
Future Perfect
I will have famed
you will have famed
he/she/it will have famed
we will have famed
you will have famed
they will have famed
Future Continuous
I will be faming
you will be faming
he/she/it will be faming
we will be faming
you will be faming
they will be faming
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been faming
you have been faming
he/she/it has been faming
we have been faming
you have been faming
they have been faming
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been faming
you will have been faming
he/she/it will have been faming
we will have been faming
you will have been faming
they will have been faming
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been faming
you had been faming
he/she/it had been faming
we had been faming
you had been faming
they had been faming
Conditional
I would fame
you would fame
he/she/it would fame
we would fame
you would fame
they would fame
Past Conditional
I would have famed
you would have famed
he/she/it would have famed
we would have famed
you would have famed
they would have famed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.fame - the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimedfame - the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
honour, laurels, honor - the state of being honored
infamy, opprobrium - a state of extreme dishonor; "a date which will live in infamy"- F.D.Roosevelt; "the name was a by-word of scorn and opprobrium throughout the city"
2.fame - favorable public reputationfame - favorable public reputation    
reputation, repute - the state of being held in high esteem and honor
infamy - evil fame or public reputation
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

fame

noun prominence, glory, celebrity, stardom, name, credit, reputation, honour, prestige, stature, eminence, renown, repute, public esteem, illustriousness At the height of his fame, his every word was valued.
shame, disgrace, obscurity, oblivion, disrepute, ignominy, dishonour, infamy
Quotations
"If fame is to come only after death, I am in no hurry for it" [Martial Epigrams]
"In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes" [Andy Warhol exhibition catalogue]
"Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise"
"(That last infirmity of noble mind)"
"To scorn delights, and live laborious days" [John Milton Lycidas]
"Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things heavy and solid" [Francis Bacon Essays]
"Fame is a food that dead men eat -"
"I have no stomach for such meat" [Henry Austin Dobson Fame is a Food]
"Famous men have the whole earth as their memorial" [Pericles]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fame

noun
1. Wide recognition for one's deeds:
2. A position of exalted widely recognized importance:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
سُمْعَةشُهْرَه
proslulostsláva
berømmelse
kuuluisuus
slava
frægî
名声
명예
šauniai
slava
slava
kändisskap
ชื่อเสียง
sự nổi tiếng

fame

[feɪm] Nfama f
Margaret Mitchell, of "Gone with the Wind" fameMargaret Mitchell, famosa por su novela "Lo que el viento se llevó"
fame and fortunefama f y fortuna f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fame

[ˈfeɪm] nrenommée f
fame as sth
her fame as a children's author → sa renommée d'auteur de livres pour enfants
to rise to fame → devenir célèbre
to shoot to fame → connaître une célébrité fulgurante
to rise to fame as sth → se faire un nom en tant que qch
fame and fortune → la gloire et la fortune
J.K. Rowling, of "Harry Potter" fame → J.K. Rowling, le célèbre auteur d'"Harry Potter"
John Lennon, of Beatles fame → John Lennon, le chanteur du célèbre groupe les Beatles
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

fame

nRuhm m; fame and fortuneRuhm und Reichtum; of ill famevon üblem Ruf, berüchtigt; to come to fameRuhm erlangen, zu Ruhm kommen; to win fame for somethingsich (dat)durch etw einen Namen machen; is that the Joseph Heller of “Catch-22” fame?ist das der berühmte Joseph Heller, der „Catch-22“ geschrieben hat?; Borg of Wimbledon 1979 fameBorg, der sich 1979 in Wimbledon einen Namen gemacht hat
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fame

[feɪm] nfama, celebrità
his fame as a musician → la sua fama di musicista
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

fame

(feim) noun
the quality of being well-known. Her novels brought her fame.
ˈfamous adjective
well-known (for good or worthy reasons). She is famous for her strength.
ˈfamously adverb
very well.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

fame

سُمْعَة proslulost berømmelse Ruhm φήμη fama kuuluisuus célébrité slava fama 名声 명예 roem berømmelse sława fama слава kändisskap ชื่อเสียง ün sự nổi tiếng 名声
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

fame

n. fama, nombre.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012