superstar meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

superstar

noun

UK /ˈsuː.pəˌstɑː/ · CA, US /ˈsu.pɚˌstɑɹ/

Etymology From super- + star.

Someone who has accumulated a vast amount of fame; a high-level celebrity.

An exceptionally productive employee.

Corporate jargon

Near-synonym: all-star (sometimes synonymous)
Want to hire a coding superstar? Call the agent.2014 November 17, Lizzie Widdicombe, “The Programmer's Price”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 28 Dec 2022:

3 more examples

Is your organization looking for its next new hire, that superstar performer to take things to the next level? Be careful: Organizations are greater than just one individual. If you're that superstar, remember to be a good team player. You'll feel better about your job and you'll perform at an even higher level.2017 May 19, Hui Liao, “Career Coach: How to handle the new hotshot on your team”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2020:
"A superstar employee that is creating that toxic work environment is probably costing that company more than he or she is bringing in," Martin says.2017 October 15, Tara Golshan, “Study finds 75 percent of workplace harassment victims experienced retaliation when they spoke up”, in Vox, archived from the original on 11 Feb 2023:
There's no sense in hiring a superstar developer who will quit after three months because she can't stand the management style or requires flexibility the hiring company doesn't offer.2022 June 27, Ariel Shapira, “As 'Tindery' hiring dies down, Unboxable's AI steers companies toward retention”, in The Jerusalem Post, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2023:

Astronomy, Natural sciences Rare A giant star; (loosely) any giant star, bright giant, supergiant, or hypergiant.

The greater an object's mass, the greater its gravitational force. If a star could attain a certain mass --- say a million to 100 million times the mass of our own sun --- then its gravity would become 100 times as powerful as the forces generated by the strongest known nuclear reactions. Such a super superstar, in a normal course of its evolution, would contract.1964, Life: Volume 56, No. 4, →ISBN, page 11:
Toward the centre of the cluster, where they were more strongly congested, the whole region glowed as though as it were a monstrous superstar.1975, Harold W. G. Allen, The Edge of the Universe: What is Our Destiny? Is There Life After Death? What Incredible Secret Lies in the Depths of Space?, Allen Book Pub., page 36:

1 more example

Perhaps a supermassive cluster can coalesce to form a superstar -- a star with a mass of 1 million to 100 million solar masses.1979, Michael Zeilik, Astronomy: The Evolving Universe, Harper and Row, →ISBN, page 379: