Z-list, n. & adj.

z-list
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/z-list_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2002

# Z-listnoun & adjective

## Factsheet

### What does the word Z-list mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word Z-list. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the word Z-list?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.0083
2018 | 0.0075
2019 | 0.0066
2020 | 0.0088
2021 | 0.0055
2022 | 0.0051
2023 | 0.0052
2024 | 0.0058

### How is the word Z-list pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzɛdlɪst/
ZED-list

#### U.S. English

/ˈziˌlɪst/
ZEE-list

### Where does the word Z-list come from?

Earliest known use

1970s

The earliest known use of the word Z-list is in the 1970s.

OED's earliest evidence for Z-list is from 1979, in the Washington Post.

Z-list is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: Z n., list n.6

### Nearby entries

1. zizypha, n. 1546–1775
2. zizyphus, n.?1440–
3. zizz, v. 1883–
4. zizz, int. & n. 1824–
5. zizzing, n. 1884–
6. zizzing, adj. 1919–
7. zizzy, adj. 1843–
8. Zlid, n. 1616–1785
9. Z'life, n. 1689
10. Z line, n. 1916–
11. Z-list, n. & adj.1979–
12. Z-lister, n. 1999–
13. zloty, n. 1915–
14. Zn, n. 1814–
15. -zoa, comb. form
16. -zoan, comb. form
17. zoantharian, adj. & n. 1887–
18. zoanthid, n. 1870–
19. zoanthidan, adj. 1888–
20. zoanthodeme, n. 1877–
21. zoanthoid, adj. 1854–

## Etymology

### Summary

Formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: Z n., list n.6
< Z n. + list n.6, after A-list n., B-list n., C-list n., D-list n.

## Meaning & use

colloquial and disparaging (originally U.S.).

1. noun
   1. 1979–
      Any (notional) list comprising only the very least celebrated or important members of a particular group; esp. used to emphasize extreme insignificance. Also in extended use.
      1. 1979

         > For those who care about the current ‘A’ list and the ‘Z’ list of who's in and out at ‘The Springs’, the Agnews are reportedly living a very private existence.

         Washington Post 25 November F14
      2. 1988

         > I must have been on their ‘Z’ list in terms of choices for the role.

         Toronto Star (Nexis) 26 March s11
      3. 2001

         > La Défense may have saved central Paris from invasion by office towers, and it looked great by night in Godard's movie Alphaville, yet it suffered, and continues to suffer, from the fact that a Z-list of architects was chosen to design the individual blocks.

         Guardian 19 March ii. 11/2
      U.S. English colloquial and slang disparaging
2. adjective
   (attributive).
   1. 1985–
      Of or belonging to a Z-list; spec. designating or relating to a (notional) roster of the very least important individuals, esp. in the film or television industry; esp. used to emphasize extreme insignificance.
      1. 1985

         > They were up there, plodding through ‘Cover of Rolling Stone’, at some Z-list press torture.

         R. Meltzer, Whore Just like Rest (2000) 3
      2. 1992

         > This shared, perverse, out-of-proportion affection for C-, D- and Z-list celebs reveals Stern and Mark and Brian as truly kindred spirits.

         Los Angeles Times (Electronic edition) 27 November
      3. 1994

         > The loyalist golfer, A. C. Cowlings, becoming a star on the Z-list party circuit.

         New York Review of Books 22 September 39/2
      4. 2001

         > Nobodies, who'd always thought they were somebody, suddenly realising they were nobody, and screaming horribly, as they embarked on their freefall descent into Z-list oblivion.

         Observer 18 March (Life Supplement) 3/1
      U.S. English colloquial and slang disparaging

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzɛdlɪst/
ZED-list

### U.S. English

/ˈziˌlɪst/
ZEE-list

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Frequency

Z-list typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

Z-list is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of Z-list, n. & adj., 1970–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1970 | 0.0003
1980 | 0.0004
1990 | 0.0004
2000 | 0.0004
2010 | 0.0006

### Frequency of Z-list, n. & adj., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.0083
2018 | 0.0075
2019 | 0.0066
2020 | 0.0088
2021 | 0.0055
2022 | 0.0051
2023 | 0.0052
2024 | 0.0058

Z-list, n. & adj. was first published in September 2002.

Z-list, n. & adj. was last modified in March 2025.