: a list or group of individuals who are prominent but not important or popular enough to be on the A-list

Examples of B-list in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Both of us knew that in 2006, Heff earned permanent Hollywood B-list infamy as the screenwriter of Snakes on a Plane, the cult classic, so-bad-it’s-good Samuel L. Jackson thriller with the title that explains the movie’s entire plot. Mark Oppenheimer, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2024 Marvel chief Kevin Feige holds a special place for Blade, considering the Snipes 1998 movie an eye-opener for him and one of the inspirations for focusing on B-list characters in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2024 Lahren is a B-list right-wing commentator and influencer who’s rattled around various platforms. Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2024 But the trend of B-list (or worse) celebrities attempting a monologue from the Studio 8H stage has been a huge handicap for the show over the past few years. Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024 This year, it was divided into, in effect, an A-list (those whose image got a moment onscreen to itself), a B-list (onscreen in a group, in an array of five thin vertical images), and a C-list (a bunch of names with no images, seemingly several dozen of them fading in and out onscreen). Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Life is weird sometimes and B-list fame is no insulation. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2024 Instead, set your sights on a B-list destination for spring, such as a northern beach resort. Christopher Elliott, King Features Syndicate, The Mercury News, 29 Jan. 2024 Fueled by a director, Jon Favreau, who had plenty of independent-cinema experience, and a leading man, Robert Downey Jr., with nothing to lose, the story of Tony Stark — a B-list comic-book character — took off like a shot, and everything that fell into place in his wake felt like another miracle. Vulture, 21 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'B-list.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of B-list was in 1935

Dictionary Entries Near B-list

Cite this Entry

“B-list.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/B-list. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!