stardust

Noun

stardust (usually uncountable, plural stardusts)

1. (literally, usually) Small fragments of dustlike material found in space; specifically, a type of cosmic dust that formed from cooling gases ejected from presolar stars, which was then incorporated into the cloud from which the Solar System condensed.
   • We are all made of stardust.
   • Presolar grains were isolated in primitive meteorites only 15 years ago. These grains of stardust formed in the atmospheres of evolved stars and in nova and supernova ejecta.2004 March 5, Ann N. Nguyen, Ernst Zinner, “Discovery of Ancient Silicate Stardust in a Meteorite”, in Science, volume 303, number 5663, Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of...

   Synonyms:

   extraterrestrial dust, space dust

2. (dated, informal, literally, usually) A distant cluster of stars resembling a cloud of dust, especially if the individual stars of which cannot be resolved with a telescope.
3. (archaic, literally, usually) Small fragments in the Earth's atmosphere or on its surface originating from meteorites; meteor dust.
4. (figuratively, usually) Something imaginary or lacking substance.
   • His [Sickert's] paint has a tangible quality; it is made not of air and star-dust but of oil and earth.1934, Virginia Woolf, Walter Sickert: A Conversation, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], →OCLC, page 90
5. (figuratively, usually) An imaginary magic dust or powder that, when in one's eyes, supposedly causes one to view a person or thing favourably, even though this might not actually be warranted.
   • My sister’s eyes were full of stardust – she’d spend hours lazily planning her future life when she would make her big break in the movies.
6. (figuratively, usually) An imaginary magic dust or powder supposedly able to give one charisma or other positive qualities; hence, charisma or glamour, especially that possessed by a celebrity.
   • Why would experienced deal makers want rock stars and actors to advise them? Why would entrepreneurs seek their money? There is a certain cachet with all that stardust, of course, and perhaps some free publicity.2015 May 5, Steven Davidoff Solomon, “Sprinkling a Little Celebrity Stardust on Silicon Valley”, in The New York Times, →ISSN