View synonyms for who's who

who's who

noun

a reference work containing short biographical entries on the outstanding persons in a country, industry, profession, etc.:
a who's who in automotive engineering.
the outstanding or influential persons in a community, industry, profession, or other group:
The who's who of racing will be there.

who's who

noun

a book or list containing the names and short biographies of famous people

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of who's who¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

The outstanding or best-known individuals of a group, as in Tonight's concert features a veritable who's who of musicians . This expression comes from the name of a famous reference work, Who's Who , first published in 1849, which contains biographical sketches of famous individuals and is regularly updated. Its name in turn was based on who is who , that is, the identity of each of a number of persons, a phrase dating from the late 1300s. [Early 1900s]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse