star-making

star-making — noun

1. the process of turning an unknown performer into a widely recognised celebrity,

1.nounB2
Definition

the process of turning an unknown performer into a widely recognised celebrity, or a particular performance, film, or person that achieves this transformation

Example

The director's star-making touch turned Putri from a drama student into a household name.

collocation: star-making touch — a talent for creating celebrities

Hollywood's star-making machine has been running at full speed since the silent film era.

collocation: star-making machine — the fame-building system of entertainment

Common collocations
  • star-making role
  • star-making performance
  • star-making machine
  • star-making moment
  • star-making turn
  • star-making power
  • star-making process
Synonyms
  • career-launching

    more specific to a single moment or opportunity rather than an ongoing process

  • fame-making

    much rarer; used more broadly for any kind of fame, not only entertainment

Grammar Patterns

star-making + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used before another noun (star-making role, star-making power) to describe a person or thing that launches a performer to fame. Rarely stands alone as a subject or object.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Star-making refers to the process or system that creates celebrities, and is most often used before another noun (a star-making role). Breakthrough describes a sudden advance or discovery — it can apply outside entertainment, and focuses on the moment of crossing a threshold rather than the ongoing machinery of fame. A big break is the informal, personal counterpart: the one lucky chance an individual performer gets. Star turn refers specifically to an outstanding performance within a show — it may or may not actually launch a career. Where star-making describes the engine, these other words describe the spark or the result. Compare: 'Her star-making performance in the film' (the film made her a star) versus 'Her big break came when a director spotted her at a café' (a stroke of luck opened the door).

breakthrough ↗big breakstar turn

Common collocations

Nouns

  • star-making machine
  • star-making process
  • star-making system

Phrases

  • a star-making turn
  • the star-making machinery of Hollywood

Prepositions

  • star-making of

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed from star (in its sense of 'celebrity,' a theatrical usage dating from the early 19th century) combined with making (the gerund of make, from Old English macian). The compound star-making gained currency in the early-to-mid 20th century as Hollywood and the studio system turned the creation of film stars into an industry in its own right.

First known use

1832

1832, in the meaning defined above