Costar

//ˈkəʊstɑː(ɹ)// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who shares star billing with another.

    "The once famous actor objected to his costar having a bigger dressing room."

  2. 2
    A person who slightly lacks the status to be considered a star.

    "Alas, always a costar but never a star."

Verb
  1. 1
    To perform with the billing of a costar. intransitive

    "People thought his career was over but now he will get to costar on Broadway next month."

  2. 2
    To feature (a number of star performers) jointly. transitive

    "Purchasing a snowplow transforms Homer into a new man. Mr. Burns' laziest employee suddenly becomes an ambitious self-starter who buys ad time on local television at 3:17 A.M^([sic]) (prime viewing hours, Homer gingerly volunteers, for everyone from alcoholics to the unemployable to garden-variety angry loners) and makes a homemade commercial costarring his family."

Example

More examples

"The once famous actor objected to his costar having a bigger dressing room."

Etymology

From co- + star.

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