Wordul · all words

noun · 3 syllables · /'kæm.i.oʊ/

CAMEO

What does "CAMEO" mean?

A brief appearance by a famous person in a film, show, or work.

Meanings

  1. A small but notable role or appearance, often by a well-known person. The director made a quick cameo as a bartender in his own movie.
  2. A piece of jewelry or carving showing a raised profile against a contrasting background. She wore an oval cameo brooch carved from pale shell.

Did you know?

  • Alfred Hitchcock turned the cameo into a personal trademark, slipping a silent appearance into roughly 40 of his own films - and fans watched for him so eagerly that he placed his cameos early so they wouldn't be distracted from the plot.

Word origin

From Italian 'cammeo', via Medieval Latin 'cammaeus', of uncertain ultimate origin; the carved-jewelry sense came first, and the brief-appearance sense developed by analogy with a small, finely worked vignette.

Remember it

A CAMEO is over in a moment - 'Came-O' in, and oh, they're gone.

A little poem

One line, one turn, then off the screen-
the smallest face the longest seen.

couplet

Wordplay

  • The carved brooch and the movie star both insisted: 'My best work is a small profile.'

What it teaches

A moment, well placed, can outlast a whole hour of being on stage.

Quick facts

What does CAMEO mean?

A brief appearance by a famous person in a film, show, or work.

Is CAMEO a valid word?

Yes — CAMEO is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is CAMEO?

CAMEO has 5 letters and 3 syllables.

Where does CAMEO come from?

From Italian 'cammeo', via Medieval Latin 'cammaeus', of uncertain ultimate origin; the carved-jewelry sense came first, and the brief-appearance sense developed by analogy with a small, finely worked vignette.

What can CAMEO teach us?

A moment, well placed, can outlast a whole hour of being on stage.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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