Meaning & use
national prominence
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Meaning
phraseuncountable
The state of being well known and important throughout a whole country.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun phrase; it often follows verbs like 'rise to', 'achieve', or 'gain'.
Patterns
- rise to national prominence
- achieve national prominence
- gain national prominence
The young singer rose to national prominence after her performance on a TV talent show.
The scandal brought the small company to national prominence for all the wrong reasons.
His research on climate change gained national prominence in the 1990s.
Common combinations
- rise to national prominence
- The athlete rose to national prominence after winning an Olympic gold medal.
- achieve national prominence
- She achieved national prominence as a civil rights lawyer.
- gain national prominence
- The charity gained national prominence during the fundraising campaign.
- bring someone to national prominence
- The documentary brought the director to national prominence.
- come to national prominence
- The issue first came to national prominence in the early 2000s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fame
- Fame can be local or global, while national prominence specifically means being well known across a whole nation.
- eminence
- Eminence is more formal and often suggests respect for achievement, not just public attention.
Opposites
Word family
- prominent adjective
- Well known and important.
- prominently adverb
- In a way that is easily seen or noticed.
Commonly confused: national prominence or nationalism?
national prominence vs nationalism
Nationalism is a political belief in the importance of your own nation; national prominence is about being widely known within a country.
Practice
After the film won several awards, the director rose to ______ prominence.
Choose one answer.
'National prominence' is the fixed phrase meaning 'known throughout the country'. 'Nation' is a noun and cannot modify 'prominence' here; 'nationally' is an adverb and would need a verb, not a noun; 'nationality' means belonging to a country and does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “national prominence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.