Meanings
adjectivefamous (comparative more famous, superlative most famous)
comparative more famous · superlative most famous
- Well known.
By this my ſword that conquer’d Perſea, Thy fall ſhall make me famous through the world:
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii - In the public eye.
Some people are only famous within their city.
- Excellent.
Pagett is a famous Job's comforter.
1924, Agatha Christie, The Man in the Brown Suit
Synonyms & antonyms
Narrower
adjectivewidely known and esteemed
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfāmōsus
- Anglo-Normanfamous
- Middle Englishfamous
- Englishfamous
From Middle English famous, from Anglo-Norman famous, from Latin fāmōsus, equivalent to fame + -ous. Displaced native Old English hlīsful.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans beroemd
- beroemdwell known
Ancient Greek κλεινός, κλειτός
- κλεινός (kleinós)well known
- κλειτός (kleitós)well known
- ὀνομαστός (onomastós)well known
- εὔδοξος (eúdoxos)well known
- εὐκλεής (eukleḗs)well known
Arabic مَشْهُور, شَهِير
- مَشْهُور (mašhūr)well known
- شَهِير (šahīr)well known
- مَشْهُور (mašhūr)in the public eye
Basque famatu
- famatuwell known
Bengali বিখ্যাত, মশহুর
- বিখ্যাত (bikkhat)well known
- মশহুর (mośohur)well known
- নামজাদা (namjada)well known
Bulgarian прочу́т, изве́стен
- прочу́т (pročút)well known
- изве́стен (izvésten)well known
- изве́стен (izvésten)in the public eye
- знамени́т (znamenít)in the public eye
Catalan famós, cèlebre
- famóswell known
- cèlebrein the public eye
Chinese Cantonese 出名
- 出名 (ceot¹ meng²)well known
Chinese Mandarin 有名, 著名
- 有名 (yǒumíng)well known
- 著名 (zhùmíng)well known
- 有名 (yǒumíng)in the public eye
- 著名 (zhùmíng)in the public eye
Czech slavný, proslulý
- slavnýwell known
- proslulýwell known
- věhlasnýwell known
Danish berømt
- berømtwell known
Dutch beroemd, alom bekend
- beroemdwell known
- alom bekendin the public eye
Esperanto fama
- famawell known
Estonian kuulus
- kuuluswell known
Finnish kuuluisa, kuuluisa
- kuuluisawell known
- kuuluisain the public eye
French fameux, célèbre
- fameuxwell known
- célèbrewell known
- connuwell known
- célèbrein the public eye
German bekannt, berühmt
- bekanntwell known
- berühmtwell known
- berühmtin the public eye
Greek διάσημος, περίφημος
- διάσημος (diásimos)well known
- περίφημος (perífimos)well known
Hawaiian kaulana
- kaulanawell known
Hebrew מפורסם, מְפֻרְסָם
- מפורסםwell known
- מְפֻרְסָם (m'fursám)well known
Hindi प्रसिद्ध, प्रख्यात
- प्रसिद्ध (prasiddh)well known
- प्रख्यात (prakhyāt)well known
- विख्यात (vikhyāt)well known
- लोकप्रिय (lokapriya)well known
- लोकप्रसिद्ध (lokaprasiddh)well known
- नामी (nāmī)well known
- प्रसिद्ध (prasiddh)in the public eye
- प्रख्यात (prakhyāt)in the public eye
- विख्यात (vikhyāt)in the public eye
- लोकप्रिय (lokapriya)in the public eye
- लोकप्रसिद्ध (lokaprasiddh)in the public eye
- मशहूर (maśhūr)in the public eye
Hungarian híres, híres
- híreswell known
- híresin the public eye
Icelandic frægur
- frægurwell known
Indonesian terkenal, termahsyur
- terkenalwell known
- termahsyurwell known
Irish cáiliúil
- cáiliúilwell known
Italian famoso
- famosowell known
Japanese 有名な, 高名な
- 有名な (yūmei na)well known
- 高名な (kōmei na)well known
- 名高い (nadakai)well known
Korean 유명하다
- 유명하다 (yumyeonghada)well known
Latin fāmōsus, inclitus
- fāmōsuswell known
- inclituswell known
- nobiliswell known
- notuswell known
Latvian slavens
- slavenswell known
Lithuanian garsus, įžymus
- garsuswell known
- įžymuswell known
- gerai žinomaswell known
Malay terkenal, masyhur
- terkenalwell known
- masyhurwell known
Māori rongonui
- rongonuiwell known
Norwegian Bokmål berømt, kjent
- berømtwell known
- kjentwell known
Polish sławny, słynny
- sławnywell known
- słynnywell known
Portuguese famoso, afamado
- famosowell known
- afamadowell known
- célebrewell known
- conhecidoin the public eye
Romanian celebru, faimos
- celebruwell known
- faimoswell known
Russian изве́стный, изве́стный
- изве́стный (izvéstnyj)well known
- изве́стный (izvéstnyj)in the public eye
- знамени́тый (znamenítyj)in the public eye
- просла́вленный (proslávlennyj)in the public eye
Scottish Gaelic cliùiteach, ainmeil
- cliùiteachwell known
- ainmeilwell known
- cliùiteachin the public eye
- ainmeilin the public eye
- allailin the public eye
Slovak slávny, známy
- slávnywell known
- známywell known
- známyin the public eye
Spanish famoso, célebre
- famosowell known
- célebrewell known
- afamadowell known
- conocidowell known
- espectablewell known
- expectablewell known
- de expectaciónwell known
Swedish känd, berömd
- kändwell known
- berömdwell known
Tagalog kilala, kilala
- kilalawell known
- kilalain the public eye
Thai มีชื่อเสียง, โด่งดัง
- มีชื่อเสียงwell known
- โด่งดัง (dòong-dang)well known
- กระหึ่ม (grà-hʉ̀m)well known
Turkish meşhur, ünlü
- meşhurwell known
- ünlüwell known
- meşhurin the public eye
- ünlüin the public eye
Ukrainian відо́мий, знамени́тий
- відо́мий (vidómyj)well known
- знамени́тий (znamenýtyj)in the public eye
- славе́тний (slavétnyj)in the public eye
- сла́вний (slávnyj)in the public eye
- відо́мий (vidómyj)in the public eye
Urdu مَشہُور, نامی
- مَشہُور (maśhūr)well known
- نامی (nāmī)well known
- نامْوَر (nāmvar)well known
- جانا مانا (jānā mānā)well known
- مَعرُوف (ma'rūf)well known
- مَقبُول (maqbūl)well known
- نامْدار (nāmdār)well known
- شُہُور و مَعرُوف (śuhūr o ma'rūf)well known
- شُہْرَت یافْتَہ (śuhrat yāfta)well known
- شُہْرَۂ آفاق (śuhra-yi āfāq)well known
Vietnamese nổi tiếng, nổi danh
- nổi tiếngwell known
- nổi danhwell known
Welsh enwog
- enwogwell known
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with famous
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
famous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/famous
MLA
“famous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/famous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “famous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/famous.
Source: famous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.