famous

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈfeɪ.məs/ UK /ˈfeɪ.məs/ See IPA manual

Freq #1339

Meanings

1

adj
Known about by very many people.

She is a famous actor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · known about by very many... celebrated well-known

More bait fabled famedfamousediconicirreconditeknown legendary mere notable noted noteworthy

Opposites

normalunfamousunknown

Word family

Forms famously

Derived forms cosfamouse-famousfamousishfamouslyfamousness infamous infamously infamousnessinstafamousmegafamousmicrofamousnonfamous

Related forms big-namecelebrity famefame-ishglorymegastarpersonage praise star vip

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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famous person
someone whose name or work is recognized by many people

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

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famous last words
a confident prediction or claim that events soon prove completely wrong

Proverbs (2)

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Simplified etymology

Famous is recorded from late Middle English and belongs to the same word family as fame, which comes from Latin fama, “report” or “fame.”

Etymology

From Middle English famous, from Anglo-Norman famous, from Latin fāmōsus, equivalent to fame + -ous. Displaced native Old English hlīsful.

famous Middle English fāmōsus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

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# famous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfeɪ.məs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfeɪ.məs/
**Frequency rank:** 1339

## Meanings
1. Known about by very many people.

## Examples
- She is a famous actor.

## Synonyms
- bait
- fabled
- famed
- famoused
- iconic
- irrecondite
- known
- legendary
- mere
- notable
- noted
- noteworthy

## Antonyms
- normal
- unfamous
- unknown

## Derived Forms
- cosfamous
- e-famous
- famousish
- famously
- famousness
- infamous
- infamously
- infamousness
- instafamous
- megafamous
- microfamous
- nonfamous

## Related Forms
- big-name
- celebrity
- fame
- fame-ish
- glory
- megastar
- personage
- praise
- star
- vip

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: famous
- Root: fāmōsus
- Affix: -ous - full of

## Etymology
From Middle English famous, from Anglo-Norman famous, from Latin fāmōsus, equivalent to fame + -ous. Displaced native Old English hlīsful.

## AI Etymology
Famous comes from Middle English famous, from Anglo-Norman famous, from Latin fāmōsus, equivalent to fame + -ous. Displaced native Old English hlīsful. In current use, the main sense is “Known about by very many people”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown

famous

Meanings

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (1)

Idioms (1)

Proverbs (2)

Simplified etymology

Etymology

Topics

External links

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