From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Famous \Fa"mous\, adjective [L. famosus, fr. fama fame: cf. F. fameux. See {Fame}.] Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; mach talked of; distinguished in story; -- used in either a good or a bad sense, chiefly the former; often followed by for; as, famous for erudition, for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate.
Famous for a scolding tongue. --Shak.
Syn: Noted; remarkable; signal; conspicuous; celebrated; renowned; illustrious; eminent; transcendent; excellent.
Usage: {Famous}, {Renowned}, {Illustrious}. Famous is applied to a person or thing widely spoken of as extraordinary; renowned is applied to those who are named again and again with honor; illustrious, to those who have dazzled the world by the splendor of their deeds or their virtues. See {Distinguished}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: widely known and esteemed; "a famous actor"; "a celebrated musician"; "a famed scientist"; "an illustrious judge"; "a notable historian"; "a renowned painter" [syn: {celebrated}, {famed}, {far-famed}, {illustrious}, {notable}, {noted}, {renowned}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
99 Moby Thesaurus words for "famous": acclaimed, advantageous, august, auspicious, beneficial, benevolent, bon, bonny, braw, bueno, capital, celebrated, cogent, commendable, conspicuous, dandy, distinguished, elegant, elevated, eminent, estimable, exalted, excellent, expedient, fabled, fair, famed, far-famed, far-heard, favorable, fine, first, first-class, first-string, glorious, godlike, good, goodly, grand, great, healthy, held in esteem, helpful, heroic, high, honorable, honored, illustrious, kind, laudable, lauded, legendary, lionized, lofty, magnanimous, magnificent, majestic, marked, much acclaimed, mythical, nice, noble, notable, noted, notorious, of mark, of note, pleasant, popular, praiseworthy, prestigious, profitable, prominent, rate, redoubtable, regal, renowned, reputable, respectable, royal, skillful, soaring, sound, splendid, sublime, superb, superior, talked-about, talked-of, top, top-notch, towering, useful, valid, venerable, very good, virtuous, well-known, well-thought-of
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
FAMOUS, adjective Conspicuously miserable.
Done to a turn on the iron, behold Him who to be famous aspired. Content? Well, his grill has a plating of gold, And his twistings are greatly admired. Hassan Brubuddy
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