• Word Spy, Wednesday, December 9, 2009 10:47 AM

A "deleb," according to lexspionagrapher Paul McFedries, is "a dead celebrity, particularly one used to endorse products." You might think it's derived from the also up-and-coming "delebrity," but that doesn't appear to be the case. A delebrity, evidently, is a famous fashion designer (combining designer and celebrity) of the sort that we've seen retail operations scurrying to sign in recent years.

If "deleb" hasn't made it to your Twitter account yet, maybe that's because all three of McFedries' citations come from publications based in the U.K.

An article by Katie Allen in The Guardian, for example, points out why delebs like Albert Einstein, Andy Warhol and Johnny Cash are increasingly popular as product endorsers: "[A] deleb cannot be caught sniffing cocaine or punching a nightclub bouncer." Or, we might add, engaging in "transgressions."

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