Celebrity
A
celebrity is a famous person. The etymological origin of the word is "one who is celebrated." An alternative definition of a celebrity is a person who is famous for being famous (regardless of what first brought them to fame). What it takes to be a celebrity depends on the cultural context and the historical time. The advent of
mass media increased the public interest in celebrities, and has even developed into a self-substantiating circuit (the 'cult of celebrity' i.e. being famous for being famous and not for having achieved anything else). Some ordinary people volunteer to become known on
television (
e.g. in
reality television shows) for a taste of celebrity, though celebrity from a reality show is usually called "fleeting celebrity" or "
15 minutes of fame" (a term coined by
Andy Warhol).
Examples of celebrities
See also:
