The IELTS Speaking test covers a wide range of diverse topics. To prepare effectively for this test, it’s essential to expand your knowledge across various fields. Continuing our series of compiling IELTS idioms, in this article, azVocab brings you a new topic: FAME & MEDIA, along with some useful idioms for your reference.
| IDIOMS | MEANING | EXAMPLE |
| One in a million | a very special person | She was one in a million and is irreplaceable. |
| The cream of the crop | the best of a group, of similar things, or people | He was certain that the judges would recognize his show rabbit as the cream of the crop. |
| Go to great pains | to do something with a lot of care or effort | He went to great pains to dress well for the occasion. |
| Someone’s/something’s claim to fame | a reason why someone or something is famous | Jeff’s big claim to fame is being on that reality show for one episode. |
| Rise to fame | to become famous | He rose to fame in the 90s as a TV presenter. |
| Stand out from the crowd | to be very noticeable and different among a group of people or things that are all very similar | Jane’s particular fashion sense makes her stand out from the crowd, but I’m not sure that’s always a good thing. |
| In the public eye | to be famous and written about in newspapers and magazines and seen on television | Increasingly, people in the public eye are voicing concern about the effects of their lifestyle on their family life. |
| Be a crowd-puller | a person or thing that attracts a lot of attention and that people will pay to see | Local dish Murtabak Daging Wak” which has always been a crowd puller at the Taman Kota Cheras bazaar every Ramadan, will not be served this year. |
| Make a splash | to become suddenly very successful or very well known | Jodie Foster made quite a splash in the film “Taxi Driver”. |
| Be a household word | a word or name that everyone knows | McDonalds quickly became a household word. |
| Make it big | to become very successful or famous | By the time he was nineteen, he had made it big in the music business. |
| Steal the limelight | to get more attention than anyone or anything else in a situation | The experimental car certainly stole the limelight at the motor show. |
| Be in the limelight | to be in public attention and interest | She’s been in the limelight recently, following the release of her controversial new film. |
| Be in the spotlight | (of a person) receiving a lot of public attention | The senator has been in the spotlight recently since the revelation of his tax frauds. |
| Be/take centre stage | to be at the centre of attention | I’m not talking about my promotion today because my sister’s engagement should take center stage. |
| Flavor of the month | the most popular person at a particular time | Andy is certainly the flavour of the month with the boss. |
| Make a name for oneself | to become famous or respected by a lot of people | He’s made a name for himself as a talented journalist. |
| Put something/someone on the map | to make a thing, person, or place famous | They’re hoping that this amusement park can put the small town on the map. |
| Steal the show/scene | to be the most popular or the best part of an event or situation | The opening band totally stole the show tonight – they were amazing. |
| Hit the headlines | to appear in the news suddenly or receive a lot of attention in news reports | She hit the deadlines after her scandal at the film studio. |
| Take someone/somewhere by storm | to be suddenly extremely successful in a place or popular with someone | When he was on the National football team, he and his co-players became the champion of the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2008, which took the country by storm. |
| Go viral | to become very popular very quickly | This is a viral video. It was amazing how fast the story went viral. |
| Information overload | a situation in which you receive too much information at one time and cannot think about it in a clear way | Spread your visit to the museum over two days if you want to avoid information overload. |
| Hot off the press | very recent news | The latest edition of the student newspaper is hot off the press, and my class is going to distribute it at lunch. |
We hope that with this article, azVocab can assist IELTS candidates in their Speaking test preparation. Additionally, you can explore many more useful idioms for IELTS Speaking compiled and curated by azVocab!
