rock star

noun

plural rock stars

1

: a famous rock musician

From my standpoint, from '72 to '76, I was the ultimate rock star. I couldn't have been more of a rock star. Anything that had to do with being a rock 'n' roll singer was what I was going for.

—David Bowie

He's what I always thought rock stars should be: sexy, dangerous, outrageous, and funny. And at least a little self-aware.

—Doug Brod

2

: a highly accomplished and well-regarded person in a particular field

Locals came streaming across a muddy construction site on the Cooper River to catch a glimpse of the rock star of politics.

—Howard Fineman

The Colchester Boards of Selectmen, Finance and Education are the rock stars of our town's elected government.

—Jason Cohen

For the agency, whose mission is building soil health, Brandt [David Brandt, farmer] has emerged as a kind of rock star. He's a "step ahead of the game."

—Tom Philpott

Pale-faced and bespectacled, the 43-year-old Chudzinski is an emerging rock star in NFL coaching circles.

—David G Fleming

… the day of the celebrity chef is seriously upon us. Chefs have become the rock stars of their generation, and we all long to know them better.

—Ruth Reichl

Examples of rock star in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With his long blond hair and high cheekbones, Tom Petty looked like a central-casting rock star. —Al Shipley, SPIN, 1 Nov. 2024

Gwenda Blair, a longtime Trump biographer, noted the Garden is associated with rock stars, celebrities and fighters – playing into the larger-than-life image Trump cultivates. —David Jackson, USA TODAY, 27 Oct. 2024

This movie was a foundational text for a generation, made all the more nostalgic by the fact that most of the young cast stayed out of the limelight afterward, forever preserved in our memories as pint-size rock stars (RIP, drummer Freddy). —Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 25 Oct. 2024

This is all particularly noticeable because Manheim, Olivas, and Fritz are such a stark contrast, brimming with rock star energy and live-wire rage. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined at sense 1