headliner

Etymology

It is formed from English headline + -er.^[2][3][4] Headline is from head and line; first a printers' term for the line at the top of a page with the title and page number, it was used of the title of a newspaper article from 1890.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who writes newspaper headlines, an American use now rare: 1875, in the Chicago Inter Ocean.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED and Etymonline dated this sense to 1891.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

From the writer of headlines the word passed, in 1896, to a performer whose name is printed most prominently on a bill, the star of a show who usually appears last;^[2][3][6][7] this sense too began in the United States.^[2][5] It was also applied occasionally to a newspaper with striking headlines,^[2] and now also to an act or show that receives top billing.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Webster's Third also record headliner for the lining material of a car's ceiling.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1875 – a writer of newspaper headlines.^[2]
• 1896 – a performer who takes top billing.^[2][6][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A performer or group given top billing at a show, usually appearing last; a star: The festival's headliner came on stage after midnight.^[9][6][7][2]
2. An act, show or event that receives such billing.^[2]
3. (rare) A person who writes newspaper headlines.^[2][5]
4. The headlining of a car.^[6][8]

Related words

• headline
• headlining

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins