Meaning & use
fallen star
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablefigurative
A once famous or successful person whose popularity or career has declined sharply.
Grammar: Countable: a fallen star, many fallen stars.
Patterns
- a fallen star of something
The actor, once a box-office giant, is now a fallen star taking small parts.
Magazines love a story about a fallen star trying to make a comeback.
She refused to become a fallen star and kept working on new projects.
nouncountableliterary
A meteor that has reached the ground; a meteorite, or loosely a shooting star.
Grammar: Countable and mostly poetic: a fallen star lay in the field.
Villagers said a fallen star had landed in the hills.
In the legend, a fallen star became a glowing stone.
The poem describes a fallen star burning through the night sky.
Word forms
| plural | fallen stars |
|---|
Common combinations
- a former fallen star
- The documentary follows a fallen star of the music world.
- pop fallen star
- The pop fallen star appeared on a reality show.
- become a fallen star
- Few fans wanted him to become a fallen star.
- the story of a fallen star
- The film tells the story of a fallen star.
Synonyms and how they differ
- has-been
- is blunter and more insulting; fallen star hints at past brilliance and sadness.
- washed-up
- describes someone finished in a career and is harsher than fallen star.
- former celebrity
- is neutral and simply states past fame without the sense of decline.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fallen star or shooting star?
fallen star vs shooting star
A shooting star is a meteor seen streaking across the sky; fallen star usually means a person whose fame has faded.
Practice
Which describes a 'fallen star'?
Choose one answer.
A fallen star was famous and has lost that position. The other choices describe people who are successful, ordinary or just starting out.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fallen star”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.