personage
/ˈpəːs(ə)nɪdʒ
/noun
1A person (used to express importance or elevated status): it was no less a personage than the bishop...
- The most influential people in Cambridge society were present and many personages of notable importance had travelled up from London to attend the event.
- There are also historical personages with almost mythical status - Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Nelson.
- She appeared to be a princess or a personage of high importance anyway.
Synonyms
important person, VIP, luminary, celebrity, celebutante, personality, name, famous name, household name, public figure, star, mogul, leading light, dignitary, notable, notability, person of note, worthy, panjandrum;
person
informal celeb, somebody, big shot, big noise, big gun, hotshot, big cheese, bigwig, big fish
British informal nob
North American informal big wheel, kahuna, macher, high muckamuck, high muckety-muck
1.1A character in a play or other work: the key explains who all the personages in the paintings are...
- Dancers perform and various personages enact their masquerade roles before the major characters make their appearances.
- Brenda is lewd, tough, quick-witted, hilarious - a more vivid character than any fictional personage in recent American movies.
- I have the ability to pour myself at will into other cartoon personages - male, female or indeterminate.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, reinforced by medieval Latin personagium 'effigy'. In early use the word was qualified by words such as honourable, eminent, but since the 19th century the notion ‘significant, notable’ has been implied in the word itself.