Definition of "illustrious" []

• Well known and very distinguished; eminent. See Synonyms at noted. (adjective)
• Obsolete Shining brightly. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One of our most distinguished sculptors was summoned, a short time since, to the house of a young lady, connected by birth with a family of the highest grade in the aristocracy of wealth, and united in marriage to the heir of a title illustrious in the military annals of the empire."
• "I called the illustrious professor Tonal Kedem, Tonal Calamari, and any other number of off-the-cuff last names for 4 years."
• "She is, indeed, in illustrious company and in the great tradition."