lede

American  

[leed] / lid /

Or lead

noun

1. Journalism.

   1. a short summary serving as an introduction to a news story, article, or other copy.

   2. the main and often most important news story.

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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.

Example Sentences

“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