A-list

//ˈeɪlɪst// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The first of a number of lists, especially lists arranged in order of importance or preference.
  2. 2
    a list of names of specially favored people wordnet
  3. 3
    An informal list of people (especially in the entertainment industry, or professionally or socially prominent) who are the most admired or desirable, or likely to bring success.

    "The film [Pretty Woman] grossed $464 million worldwide, ensconcing her [Julia Roberts] in the Hollywood A-list."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating, or belonging, to an A-list (noun noun sense 2). not-comparable

    "By the 1980s, there was still huge appeal for what became known as 'shiny-floor' talent shows, especially during weekend primetime. In the US, Star Search ran for 12 years in its original run, from 1983 to 1995, and as searches went, it did genuinely uncover some A-list talent, including Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morrisette and LeAnn Rimes."

  2. 2
    Best of a group; first-class, pre-eminent, top. broadly, not-comparable

    "DirectX 10 promises an almost obscene step up in the level of eye candy you can expect from an A-list game, which is the great news. The bad news is, you'll need a new videocard to get those gorgeous graphics."

Synonyms

All synonyms
best of the besttop-class

Antonyms

All antonyms
Z-list

Example

More examples

"The actor's illustrious career was honored at a gala event attended by a bevy of A-list celebrities."

Etymology

The noun is derived from A (“rank (normally the highest) on a scale that assigns letters”) + list. The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.

Related phrases

A-gayA-lister

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.