a famous person who is often written about in newspapers and magazines or is often on television or the radio
Meaning of public figure in English
(Definition of public figure from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
Examples of public figure
public figure
Each time a politician or public figure says something that could be remotely construed as offensive, the person's comments are instant fodder for television pundits.
From TIME
It's impossible to ever really know what a public figure is feeling, which is probably why it's a national pastime to speculate about it.
From The Atlantic
She has to change from an idealistic student to a grieving young woman and a public figure.
From NPR
He was a public figure very early on.
From NPR
As a public figure, she promises that being kind of weird doesn't mean you'll be cast out.
From NPR
It was nothing spectacular, just a public figure acting like a regular person, rather than wasting taxpayer funds everywhere he goes.
From ESPN
It's not that unusual for a public figure to go from hero to villain.
From The Atlantic
Rumors that a celebrity or other public figure is dead are common on social media sites and can spread quickly because of their nature.
From Huffington Post
In addition, she's the first female public figure to make the cover.
From CBS News
He's just the latest major public figure to call upon consumers to make animal welfare a major consideration in their food choices.
From Huffington Post
As a public figure who fearlessly challenged the status quo, he has been sanitized and oversimplified.
From ABC News
The notion of scrutinizing a politician or a public figure, this doesn't always amount to gossip, or to speaking badly about them.
From The Atlantic
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
