star

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. sun, celestial body; pentagram, asterisk; prima donna, primo uomo, leading man or lady, chief performer; destiny; planet. See indication, drama, repute.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A luminous heavenly body]

Syn. sun, astral body, pulsar, quasar, Seyfert galaxy, quasi-stellar object, sidereal body, fixed star, variable star, lamp*, twinkler*.

Classes of stars include: fixed, binary, multiple, supergiant, red giant, medium yellow, white dwarf, supernova, neutron star, black dwarf, black hole, star cluster, star cloud, interstellar cloud, protostar, pulsar. Familiar stars include --- individual stars: Betelgeuse, Sirius, Vega, Spica, Arcturus, Aldebaran, Antares, Atlas, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Cappella, Algol, North Star, Polaris; constellations: Great Bear, Ursa Major, Little Bear, Ursa Minor, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Orion, Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair, The Gemini, Castor and Pollux, Cassiopeia, Pleiades, Hyades, AndRomeda, Taurus, Canis Major, the Great Dog, Canis Minor, the Little Dog, Scorpion, Sagittarius, Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, Pegasus, Leo, Hercules, Boötes, Cetus, Aquila, the Eagle, Cygnus, the Swan, Corona Australis or the Southern Crown, the Southern Cross.

2. [A conventional figure].

Forms of stars include: asterisk, pentacle, pentagram, hexagram, etoile, mullet, six-pointed star, five-pointed star, Star of David; see also form 1 .

3. [A superior performer]

Syn. headliner, leading lady, leading man, movie actor, movie actress, actor, actress, favorite, player, matinee idol, chief attraction, lead, starlet*, topliner*, luminary*, the flash*.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. sun, *flaming gasball, celestial body, heavenly body, burning orb, *cooling fires of creation, *candlelight of the gods, *heavenly beacon. ''The forget-me-nots of the angels.''—H.W. Longfellow.

WORD FIND

• brightness measurement: magnitude

• brightness, star with variable: variable star

• bright star: Sirius, Polaris

• chain of galaxies stretching across universe: Great Wall

• chart of positions: ephemeris

• closest: Proxima Centauri

• cloudy, gassy birthplace of: nebula

• collapsed star with massive gravity forces: black hole, neutron star, pulsar

• concealment by another celestial body: occultation

• constellation, group of stars not belonging to any: asterism

• cool red star of massive proportions: red giant

• double star that may appear as one: binary

• effect that reveals whether star is approaching or receding: Doppler effect

• erupting, brightening star: nova

• exploding star: supernova

• galactic-like superobject at ends of universe: quasar

• galaxy, nearby: Andromeda

• group of stars forming a distinctive configuration: constellation

• group of stars in which earth is located: Milky Way galaxy

• group of stars or island universe: galaxy, globular cluster hazy group too distant to be seen with naked

• eye: stardust

• mapping of: uranography

• motion unrelated to earth’s rotation: proper motion

• referring to: stellar, astral

• shooting star: see meteor

• tiny star with immense mass: white dwarf

• twinkling of: scintillation

• X-ray emitting: pulsar

see astronomy, comet, constellation, meteor, moon, planet, space, sun

2. asterisk pentagram, pentacle, hexagram.

3. celebrity superstar, luminary, *name, *big-shot, *bigwig, *celeb, personage, leading lady, leading man, matinee idol, headliner.

ANT.: nobody, unknown

II

v.

headline, be featured, lead.

III

a.

leading, prominent, outstanding, standout, celebrated, main, famous, renowned, illustrious.

ANT.: unknown, secondary

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun The main performer in a theatrical production: lead, principal, protagonist. See PERFORMING ARTS.