Word.ws English Dictionary

in the limelight

in the limelight prepositional phrase: in the focus of attention, especially from the media.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In the focus of attention, especially from the media.
    • The politician was in the limelight from the moment the scandal became public.

Synonyms of in the limelight

Origin of in the limelight

From the use of limelight for theatre lighting, in particular, for powering the spotlights which are used to put the focus on individual actors on stage.

Questions about in the limelight

What does in the limelight mean?
In the limelight means in the focus of attention, especially from the media.
What part of speech is in the limelight?
In the limelight is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the limelight in the dictionary

  1. in the lap of the gods
  2. in the last analysis
  3. in the lead
  4. in the least
  5. in the light of
  6. in the limelight
  7. in the limit
  8. in the line of duty
  9. in the long run
  10. in the long term
  11. in the loop

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the limelight (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-in the limelight.ogg.

Cite this entry: “in the limelight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_limelight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.