Cameo
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A piece of jewelry, etc., carved in relief.
"Aarfy's buxom trollop had vanished with her smutty cameo ring, and Nurse Duckett was ashamed of him because he had refused to fly more combat missions and would cause a scandal."
- 2 engraving or carving in low relief on a stone (as in a brooch or ring) wordnet
- 3 A single very brief appearance, especially by a prominent celebrity in a movie or song.
"Famous comic book writer Stan Lee had a cameo in the Spider-Man movie. He was on screen for perhaps ten seconds, but aficionados distinctly remember him."
- 1 To appear in a cameo role.
Example
More examples"Robert Deniro made a cameo appearance in the movie."
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian cammeo, from Medieval Latin camaeus, of unknown origin. The movie sense is short for “cameo role” referring to a famous person who was playing no character, but him or herself. Like a cameo brooch — a low-relief carving of a person’s head or bust — the actor or celebrity is instantly recognizable. More recently, it has come to refer to any short appearances, whether as a character or as oneself. Doublet of camaieu.
Related phrases
More for "cameo"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.