Celebutante
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A young, usually female socialite, especially one of limited accomplishment, who is the focus of sufficient media attention and public interest to be regarded as a celebrity.
"Lisa Edelstein, a nice girl from a New Jersey suburb, is explaining how she got to be Lisa E., New York's reigning Queen of the Night, Girl of the Moment, new Edie Sedgwick and top "celebutante" of 1986. "Being a celebutante means you're famous for not really doing anything," the 20-year-old says. "You just try to get to know as many people as you can, so that you know everybody.""
Example
More examples"Lisa Edelstein, a nice girl from a New Jersey suburb, is explaining how she got to be Lisa E., New York's reigning Queen of the Night, Girl of the Moment, new Edie Sedgwick and top "celebutante" of 1986. "Being a celebutante means you're famous for not really doing anything," the 20-year-old says. "You just try to get to know as many people as you can, so that you know everybody.""
Etymology
Blend of celebrity + debutante. Reportedly coined by Walter Winchell in 1939.
More for "celebutante"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.