subcelebrity

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English

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Etymology

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From sub- +‎ celebrity.

Noun

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subcelebrity (countable and uncountable, plural subcelebrities)

  1. (uncountable) The state or quality of being somewhat known but not enough to be considered truly famous.
    • 1908 August, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, “The Torch”, in Out West:
      Himself almost unknown, Gay yet held a curious subcelebrity with not a few men who had won distinction in widely diverging lines.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:subcelebrity.
  2. (countable) A person who is somewhat known but not famous enough to be considered a true celebrity.
    • 1912, Beth Harbison, When in Doubt, Add Butter, St. Martin's Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 62:
      So Angela was relegated to the netherworld of D.C. subcelebrities — not quite interesting enough to be famous but just famous enough to be interesting.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:subcelebrity.
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