actor

noun

ac·​tor ˈak-tər 

 also  -ˌtȯr

1

: one that acts : doer

2

a

: one who acts in a play, movie, television show, etc.

b

: one who behaves as if acting a part

3

: one that takes part in any affair : participant

political actors

actorish

ˈak-tə-rish 

adjective

actorly

ˈak-tər-lē 

adjective

Synonyms

• impersonator
• mummer
• player
• thesp
• thespian
• trouper

Examples of actor in a Sentence

my sister went to drama school to become an actor

Benjamin Franklin was a major actor in many of the events leading up to the founding of our nation.

Recent Examples on the Web

In January 2024, nation-state actor Midnight Blizzard exploited Microsoft misconfigurations in password spray attacks that successfully compromised an account without multifactor authentication (MFA) enabled. —Galit Lubetzky, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025

Grammy Award-winning rapper and actor Ludacris will kick off the fair on opening day, Friday, July 11, with a performance on the main stage. —Sarah Linn, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2025

Instead, the vehicle flies itself autonomously with up to six passengers, some of whom have been notable celebrities like actor William Shatner and NFL legend Michael Strahan. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025

Waiting on cause of death for an actor who faded from view around the time of the pandemic. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English actour "doer, pleader," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin āctor, from agere "to drive (cattle), cause to move, do" + -tor, agent suffix — more at agent

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing actor

• bad actor
• character actor
• co-actor

Rhymes for actor

• acter
• factor
• tractor
• attractor
• cofactor
• compactor
• contactor
• contractor
• distractor
• extractor
• impactor
• protractor

Kids Definition

actor

noun

ac·​tor ˈak-tər 

: one that acts

especially : a person who acts especially in a play or movie or on television