famous Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite widely known and esteemed
    renowned; illustrious; famed; celebrated; notable; noted; far-famed.
    • a famous actor
    • a celebrated musician
    • a famed scientist
    • an illustrious judge
    • a notable historian
    • a renowned painter

WordNet

Fa"mous adjective
Etymology
L. famosus, fr. fama fame: cf. F. fameux. See Fame.
Definitions
  1. Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; mach talked of; distinguished in story; -- used in either a good or a bad sense, chiefly the former; often followed by for; as, famous for erudition, for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate.
    Famous for a scolding tongue. Shak.
    Syn. -- Noted; remarkable; signal; conspicuous; celebrated; renowned; illustrious; eminent; transcendent; excellent. -- Famous, Renowned, Illustrious. Famous is applied to a person or thing widely spoken of as extraordinary; renowned is applied to those who are named again and again with honor; illustrious, to those who have dazzled the world by the splendor of their deeds or their virtues. See Distinguished.

Webster 1913