fame

fame n Fame, renown, honor, glory, celebrity, reputation, repute, notoriety, éclat are comparable when they mean the character or state of being widely known by name for one's deeds and, often, one's achievements.

Fame is the most inclusive and in some ways the least explicit of these terms, for it may be used in place of any of the others, but it gives no clear suggestion of how far the knowledge of one's name extends, of the reasons for it, or of the creditableness of those reasons; although the term often implies longevity and usually implies a cause or causes to one's credit, it does not invariably carry these favorable implications

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acquired some fame for his inventions

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his fame was short-lived

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fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise ... to scorn delights and live laborious days— Milton

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fame . . . that second life in others' breath— Pope

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popularity is neither fame nor greatness— Hazlitt

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fame is the thirst of youth— Byron

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I had won a great notoriety and perhaps even a passing fame— Maugham

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Renown implies widespread fame and widespread acclamation for great achievements (as in war, in government, in science, or in art)

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those other two equalled with me in fate, so were I equalled with them in renown— Milton

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Niten's paintings are prized, but it is as a swordsman that he won supreme renown— Binyon

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the renown of Walden has grown; schools and colleges have made it required reading— Frank

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he once achieved a singular mechanical triumph that won him wide renown— Anderson

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Honor (see also HONOR 2, HONESTY) implies a measure of fame (as in a section, a country, a continent, or the civilized world), but it also implies that the knowledge of one's achievements has earned for one esteem or reverence

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length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor— Prov 3:16

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one must learn to give honor where honor is due, to bow down . . . before all spirits that are noble— Benson

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Glory usually suggests renown, but more especially it implies a position where attention is fixed on one's brilliancy of achievement and the accompaniment of enthusiastic praise or of high honor

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the paths of glory lead but to the grave— Gray

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to be recognized ... as a master ... in one's own line of intellectual or spiritual activity, is indeed glory— Arnold

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no keener hunter after glory breathes. He loves it in his knights more than himself; they prove to him his work— Tennyson

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Celebrity is often used in place of fame when the widespread laudation of one's name and accomplishments in one's own time is implied; the term usually carries a stronger implication of famousness and of popularity than it does of deep-seated or long-lived admiration and esteem

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the lonely precursor of German philosophy, he still shines when the light of his successors is fading away; they had celebrity, Spinoza has fame—Arnold

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made a sensational debut as a pianist at the age of six . . . but by adolescence her celebrity was finished— Tunley

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Reputation often denotes nothing more than the character of a person or place, not necessarily as it really is but as it is conceived to be by those who know of him or of it

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he has a good reputation in the community

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it is a shame to injure a man's reputation

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but in the sense in which it is here particularly considered, the term implies a measure of fame, typically for creditable reasons

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his reputation for wit was countrywide

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a man of doubtful reputation

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a painter of growing reputation

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the purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation— Shak.

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the fame (reputation is too chilly a word) of Arnold J. Toynbee is a phenomenon in itself worth noting— Brogari

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Repute is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation in either sense

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only a general of repute could get recruits— Buchan

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More often, however, repute suggests a relation that is closer to honor than to fame, and denotes rather the degree of esteem accorded to a person or thing than the measure of fame it acquires

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the book has no little repute among the best critics

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his work is held in high repute

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he won a great deal of repute for his bravery

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Notoriety implies public knowledge of a person or deed; it usually suggests a meretricious fame and imputes sensationalism to the person or thing that wins such repute

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he achieved notoriety as the author of a most salacious novel

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that brilliant, extravagant, careless Reverend Doctor Dodd who acquired some fame and much notoriety as an eloquent preacher— Ellis

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éclat may be used in place of renown or of notoriety. To either idea is added the connotation of great brilliancy or display, but when the basic meaning is renown, illustriousness is especially suggested

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consider what luster and éclat it will give you ... to be the best scholar, of a gentleman, in England— Chesterfield

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and when it is notoriety, flashiness or ostentation is usually implied

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his success in such a pursuit would give a ridiculous éclat to the whole affair— Scott

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Analogous words: acclaim, acclamation, *applause: recognizing or recognition, acknowledgment (see corresponding verbs at ACKNOWLEDGE): eminence, illustriousness (see corresponding adjectives at FAMOUS)

Antonyms: infamy: obscurity

Contrasted words: ignominy, obloquy, *disgrace, dishonor, odium, opprobrium, disrepute, shame