matinee idol
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.
Even better, he has used his beauty not to become a matinee idol but to unsettle and surprise us, portraying characters whose handsomeness is very much the point but not the whole story.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Olivier, who was playing Archie Rice, was at the peak of his acting career and considered something of a matinee idol.
From BBC • Jan. 17, 2025
There’s former matinee idol Brendan Fraser, whose turn as a morbidly obese teacher in “The Whale” has earned him a lead actor nomination.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 8, 2023
He has matinee idol looks, but if you film him from another angle, he can look very disturbing, and that makes him rather ambiguous, and I wanted this ambiguity for the audience.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2022
All the girls gaze at him as if he were a matinee idol or a moving-picture star, and naturally they don't think I'm worthy of him in the least—an opinion in which I agree.
From The Lightning Conductor Discovers America by Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
