lede
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of lede
First recorded in 1950–55; altered spelling of lead 1 ( def. ) (in the journalism sense “short introductory summary”), used in the printing trades to distinguish it from the homograph lead 2 ( def. ) (in the sense “thin strip of type metal for increasing the space between lines of type”)
Explanation
In news reporting, the lede is the main idea in the first few lines of a story. Most writers work hard to make the lede interesting and accurate. While this word is sometimes spelled lead, and either way rhymes with reed, it's especially common in American journalism to use lede. The phrase "to bury the lede" means to unwittingly neglect to emphasize the very most important part of the story — a no-no in journalism. The unusual spelling comes from an attempt to distinguish the word from the "metal" meaning of lead, which rhymes with bed.
Vocabulary lists containing lede
Academic and Literary Vocabulary, Unit 2
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Ballad and Dagger
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Shout
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If you were Alan Greenspan,” I wrote in the draft’s lede, “wouldn’t you be worried about the soaring stock market?”
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
You can’t accuse those who title “NOVA” episodes of burying the lede with “Ancient Desert Death Trap.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
The lede was ‘To Russia without love,’ and then I wrote a sidebar, ‘My One-Round Fight With Mike Tyson.’
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024
Affleck does not quite bury the lede so much as build to a conclusion that leaves audiences feeling elated.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2023
Leuer were me lyue in pore lyf, wythoute schame & tene, Than in schame & sorewe, lede the astat of quene.
From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.