It was a burning question of mine for a while now:
I understand that dwarf planets like Pluto and Ceres aren’t considered planets of the solar system, but why are they called ‘dwarf PLANETS’ if they aren’t planets.
And no one really says, “the sun isn’t a star, it’s a Dwarf Star”. Nor is it declassified as one because of it.
So, why are dwarf planets not planets, but dwarf stars are stars?
In addition to the other people you’re hearing, “dwarf planet” also has specific criteria associated with how the body interreacts with its solar system. A dwarf planet has to orbit its star directly and be big enough for its gravity to have pulled it into a roughly spherical shape, but small enough that it hasn’t cleared its orbit.
A dwarf star is just a star that’s not particularly big and bright for whatever reason. While the terminology is similar, the usage is very different.