Meaning
At the centre of public attention and scrutiny. Used of politicians, performers, athletes and anyone whose doings are being watched and discussed, whether they court the attention or not. Common in all major varieties of English. Neutral register and ubiquitous in journalism; often paired with steal, hog or avoid. Regional use: General English.
Origin
Limelight was a real stage technology: a stick of quicklime (calcium oxide) heated by an oxyhydrogen flame glowed with an intense white light. Goldsworthy Gurney observed the effect in the 1820s and Thomas Drummond built a working instrument in 1826 (hence Drummond light); Etymonline records the name limelight from 1826, first in lighthouses and surveying before the Victorian stage adopted it. The first recorded performance use was outdoors at Herne Bay Pier on 3 October 1836, followed by indoor use at Covent Garden in 1837, and by the 1860s and 1870s limelight was the standard way of picking out a performer, an early spotlight. Electric arc lighting replaced it in the late nineteenth century. Etymonline dates the transferred phrase in the limelight, meaning at the centre of attention, to 1877, when it still carried the literal stage sense.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- hog the limelight
- out of the limelight
- steal the limelight
- take the limelight
Usage Examples
- After years of quiet work in the laboratory, she found herself in the limelight when the trial results were published.
- He has never enjoyed being in the limelight and prefers to let the team take the bows.
- The young defender stole the limelight with two goals in the closing minutes.