has-been

WOTD - 28 October 2010    

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈhæz.bɛn/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

has-been (plural has-beens)

1. (pejorative) A person, especially one formerly popular or influential, whose popularity or effectiveness has peaked and is now in decline.
   • 1986 (Jan 6), John Gantz, "Things Look Better in the Long View", InfoWorld, 7 (52) / 8 (1), page 19

     I think Apple Computer is a has-been.

   • 2009, William Shatner, Up Till Now: The Autobiography, page 338

     Is it better to never be than to be and eventually become a has-been?

Usage notes

• Typically said of professionals or celebrities whose prime is behind them.

Derived terms

• hasbian

Translations

person declining in popularity or effectiveness

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 一度有名的人物 (cmn) (yīdù yǒumíng de rénwù), 過氣名人 (cmn), 过气名人 (cmn) (guòqì míngrén) Czech: vyřízený člověk (cs) m. Dutch: passe (nl) m. Finnish: unohdettu suuruus, entinen kuuluisuus French: has-been (fr) Georgian: ყოფილი (ka)

German: ehemalige Größe (de) f. Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Polish: has-been (pl) m. Portuguese: tem-sido (pt) Russian: человек (ru), потерявший (ru) былую (ru) славу (ru) Spanish: ha-sido (es) m. Swedish: föredetting (sv) c.

Anagrams

• banshee