Meaning & use
a has-been
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Meaning
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A person who was once famous or successful but is no longer important or respected.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a has-been or several has-beens; the article 'a' is part of the phrase.
Patterns
- a has-been from something
- be written off as a has-been
After his last movie flopped, the press called him a has-been.
She refuses to be treated as a has-been and is training for a comeback.
The show brings together singers and actors who are seen as has-beens.
Word forms
| plural | has-beens |
|---|
Common combinations
- a washed-up has-been
- The critics dismissed him as a washed-up has-been.
- call someone a has-been
- It is cruel to call someone a has-been just because they lost once.
- a political has-been
- The newspaper described the former mayor as a political has-been.
- prove you are not a has-been
- He trained hard to prove he was not a has-been.
Synonyms and how they differ
- former star
- Neutral and factual; it does not carry the insulting edge that has-been often has.
- faded celebrity
- More descriptive and slightly literary; it suggests fame that has slowly grown weaker.
Opposites
Word family
- has-been adjective
- Used before a noun in informal writing, as in a has-been actor.
Commonly confused: a has-been or never-was?
a has-been vs never-was
A never-was is someone who was never successful at all, while a has-been was successful in the past.
Practice
The magazine described the retired champion as ______.
Choose one answer.
As a singular countable noun, the phrase needs the article 'a' and is normally hyphenated: a has-been. 'Has been' without a hyphen is just the verb form, and 'has-been' alone needs a determiner.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a has-been”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.