Fame, renown, honor, glory, celebrity, reputation, repute, notoriety, éclat are comparable when they mean the character or state of being widely known by name for one’s deeds and, often, one’s achievements.
Fame is the most inclusive and in some ways the least explicit of these terms, for it may be used in place of any of the others, but it gives no clear suggestion of how far the knowledge of one’s name extends, of the reasons for it, or of the creditableness of those reasons; although the term often implies longevity and usually implies a cause or causes to one’s credit, it does not invariably carry these favorable implications.
Renown implies widespread fame and widespread acclamation for great achievements (as in war, in government, in science, or in art).
Honor (see also HONOR 2 HONESTY ) implies a measure of fame (as in a section, a country, a continent, or the civilized world), but it also implies that the knowledge of one’s achievements has earned for one esteem or reverence.
Glory usually suggests renown, but more especially it implies a position where attention is fixed on one’s brilliancy of achievement and the accompaniment of enthusiastic praise or of high honor.
Celebrity is often used in place of fame when the widespread laudation of one’s name and accomplishments in one’s own time is implied; the term usually carries a stronger implication of famousness and of popularity than it does of deep-seated or long-lived admiration and esteem.
Reputation often denotes nothing more than the character of a person or place, not necessarily as it really is but as it is conceived to be by those who know of him or of it, but in the sense in which it is here particularly considered, the term implies a measure of fame, typically for creditable reasons.
Repute is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation in either sense. More often, however, repute suggests a relation that is closer to honor than to fame, and denotes rather the degree of esteem accorded to a person or thing than the measure of fame it acquires.
Notoriety implies public knowledge of a person or deed; it usually suggests a meretricious fame and imputes sensationalism to the person or thing that wins such repute.
Éclat may be used in place of renown or of notoriety . To either idea is added the connotation of great brilliancy or display, but when the basic meaning is renown, illustriousness is especially suggested and when it is notoriety, flashiness or ostentation is usually implied.