Citations:subcelebrity

Noun: "the state or quality of being somewhat known but not enough to be considered truly famous"

 * 1908 — Eugene Manlove Rhodes, "The Torch", Out West, August 1908:
 * Himself almost unknown, Gay yet held a curious subcelebrity with not a few men who had won distinction in widely diverging lines.
 * 1997 — Vanity Fair, Volume 60, page 165:
 * Unlike anyone before him, Drudge covers the subcelebrity world of news, journalism, and politics with the sort of breathless enthusiasm usually reserved for movie stars and models.
 * 2003 — David Lazar, The Body of Brooklyn, University of Iowa Press (2003), ISBN 9781587294358, page 71:
 * He moved in a kind of subcelebrity world, hanging out with second-string linebackers, third-rate entertainers, City Hall managers, businessmen, stewardesses, wise guys.

Noun: "a person who is somewhat known but not famous enough to be considered a true celebrity"

 * 1993 — Jack B. Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads, Bowling Green State University Popular Press (1993), ISBN 9780879725822, page 130:
 * Even subcelebrity Morton Downey Jr.'s alleged assault by chimerical skinheads received more national exposure than most hostile acts by various local skinheads or groups.
 * 2006 — Virginia Heffernan, "'American Idol' Online as a Sociological Study", The New York Times, 10 May 2006:
 * The star of "American Idol's" parallel online universe — a hyperactive value-add for fans of the juggernaut franchise — is yet another member of television's huge class of subcelebrities: Ty Treadway.
 * 2006 — Annie Wagner, "Who Killed the Electric Car?", The Stranger, 11 July 2006:
 * When General Motors rolled out its ice-blue, all-electric car in California in 1996, celebrities and subcelebrities and dot-com arrivistes (including director Chris Paine) snatched them up like candy.
 * 2008 — Bill Folman, The Scandal Plan: or: How to Win the Presidency by Cheating on Your Wife, Harper (2009), ISBN 9780061447662, page 30:
 * Peter felt that all celebrities and subcelebrities — and even sub-sub-sub-sub-celebrities (which he privately considered himself to be) — had a responsibility to understand the role they played in shaping the lives of young America.
 * 2009 — Ron C. Judd, The Winter Olympics: An Insider's Guide to the Legends, the Lore, and the Game, The Mountaineers Books (2009), ISBN 9781594850639, page 73:
 * Contestants — some athletes, but many B-movie stars and other subcelebrities — slide down German luge/bobsled runs seated on large woks, with ladles strapped to their feet to steer and prevent friction.
 * 2012 — Beth Harbison, When in Doubt, Add Butter, St. Martin's Press (2012), ISBN 9780312599096, page 62:
 * So Angela was relegated to the netherworld of D.C. subcelebrities — not quite interesting enough to be famous but just famous enough to be interesting.