I understand that the word "superstar" refers to highly esteemed celebrities however, what do I call people who have higher prestige?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
It depends on the context and the situation you are in. If you are addressing someone formally and he or she has a higher prestige than yourself, you can usually address them as "sir" or "ma'am." If they are a police officer on duty, you will address them as "officer." If they are a judge and you are in court, you would address them as "Your Honor." If they are a military officer, you will address them by their rank: Colonel, Lieutenant, Sergeant, etc. If they are a doctor, you would call them "Doctor" and usually their last name. I recommend watching crime shows and medical shows in English. These shows tend to have many titles for their characters. I recommend watching CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Judge Judy, and Criminal Minds. These shows have titles used to address people with higher prestige. As I said earlier, there are many different ways to address someone who is of higher rank than yourself. It depends on the situation. However, if you know that person well and are of higher rank than you, you could probably call them by their first name. The person of higher prestige will more than likely correct you if you call them by the wrong title. Ex: I'm here with Lieutenant Ford on a military assignment. Ex: Officer Baker was in charge of leading the funeral procession. Ex: My doctor is Doctor Hammond.
