has-been
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Long dismissed as a has-been joke, Pratt correctly judged that Angelenos are angry and don’t want to be polite about it anymore.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
Peet connected to the unease of not knowing how to recognize when one has become a has-been and staying open to whatever life still has to offer.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
For those who think of late-career Elvis Presley as only a plump has-been, a gaudy Las Vegas crooner slinging schlock in the 1970s, Baz Luhrmann’s new movie is a bracing corrective.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
Among other things, he has called you a fraudster and a failed political has-been, but you’re not responding in kind.
From Slate • Oct. 15, 2025
“I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what’s it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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