celebrity

plural celebrities

1. countableobsoleteuncountableA rite or ceremony.First known use 17th–18th c.
2. uncountableuncommon outside high registersFame, renown; the state of being famous or talked-about.First known use 17th c.

   Many of those that envy celebrities aspire to celebrity themselves.

   Synonyms: big name, distinction, fame, eminence, renown

3. countableA person who has a high degree of recognition by the general population for his or her success or accomplishments; a famous person.First known use 19th c.

   I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   1 more example

   "What do you put in your paper?" I asked, […] "Oh, news," said he, "and dull articles, and things about Celebrities. If you know any Celebrities, now?" Noël asked him what Celebrities were. "Oh, the Queen and the Princes, and people with titles, and people who write, or sing, or act—or do something clever or wicked."

   1899, E. Nesbit, The Story of the Treasure Seekers

   Synonyms: big name, star, celeb, sleb, luminary, notable, media darling