Meaning
illustrious, renowned, famous, distinguished
- illustrious, renowned, distinguished
In a sentence
Mia zia ha incontrato un illustre medico ieri.
My aunt met a renowned doctor yesterday.
Conosci quell'illustre cantante di Milano?
Do you know that famous singer from Milan?
Non è un nome illustre, ma tutti lo temono.
It's not a distinguished name, but everyone fears him.
Word forms (4)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| illustre | masculine · singular |
| illustre | feminine · singular |
| illustri | masculine · plural |
| illustri | feminine · plural |
Usage notes
- Mostly formal and literary. In everyday speech, famoso or noto is usually more natural.
- Use before a noun or after essere: un illustre scienziato, uno scienziato illustre.
- Usually positive; for negative fame, notorious is possible in English, but Italian often prefers famigerato or tristemente noto.