Meaning & use
fame
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Meanings
noununcountable
The condition of being known by very many people because of talent, achievement or public activity.
Grammar: Has no plural and no article: she found fame young, not a fame.
Patterns
- fame as something
- fame for something
- rise to fame
The young singer rose to fame after one song went viral.
His fame as a chef spread far beyond his hometown.
She never wanted fame; she only wanted to paint.
nounsingularliterary
A reputation for something, especially a particular skill or feature, among those who know about it.
Grammar: Usually appears in the pattern fame of or fame for, often in a literary or formal style.
Patterns
- the fame of something
- something's fame for something
The village's fame for its honey brought visitors every summer.
The fame of her cooking reached the neighboring towns.
The bridge owes its fame to its unusual design.
Common combinations
- rise to fame
- The actor rose to fame in a television drama.
- claim to fame
- The town's only claim to fame is its giant clock.
- fame and fortune
- He moved to the city seeking fame and fortune.
- international fame
- The festival brought the small island international fame.
- fleeting fame
- Reality shows often give people only fleeting fame.
- achieve fame
- Few poets achieve fame in their own lifetime.
Synonyms and how they differ
- celebrity
- Celebrity is the state of being a well-known person in the media, often for who you are rather than what you achieved.
- renown
- Renown is more formal and suggests respect for real accomplishment, where fame can be shallow.
- stardom
- Stardom refers to top-level fame in entertainment or sport, while fame covers any field.
- notoriety
- Notoriety means being widely known for something bad, whereas fame is usually positive or neutral.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fame or famous?
fame vs famous
Fame is the noun and famous is the adjective: she achieved fame, so she is famous.
Practice
The small bakery has one ___ to fame: it once supplied a royal wedding cake.
Choose one answer.
Claim to fame is the fixed phrase for the thing a person or place is known for; the other choices do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fame”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.