berühmte

Berühmte is a German noun formed from the adjective berühmt, meaning famous. It denotes famous people as a class or, in a specific context, a single famous person. In the plural, Die Berühmten can refer to a group of notable individuals; in the singular, der Berühmte refers to a famous man, die Berühmte to a famous woman. Indefinite forms include ein Berühmter (a famous man) and eine Berühmte (a famous woman).

The term is commonly used in biographies, historical writing, journalism, and literary prose to refer to people of public recognition without naming them, or to discuss fame as a concept. It typically carries a neutral to formal tone and can function as a stand-in for specific identities when the focus is on status rather than on a particular person. In contemporary media, synonyms such as Prominente or berühmte Persönlichkeiten are more frequently encountered, with Berühmte often appearing in more literary or descriptive contexts.

Berühmtheit, derived from the same root, is the noun for the state or quality of being famous, while Berühmtsein is another correlated form. The word highlights public recognition and notoriety in cultural and historical discussions, and it sits alongside related terms that describe celebrity status in German.