columnist
Americannoun
-
columnists
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of columnist
Explanation
A columnist writes regularly for a newspaper or magazine, usually expressing opinions or commentary. A columnist might write an article endorsing a candidate for president one week, and a story about a terrible local fire the next week. If you get a job as a newspaper columnist, you'll be expected to publish on a regular basis, maybe once or twice a week. An advice columnist answers letters that ask for help with personal problems and dilemmas, and a political columnist comments on various current events and political figures. The word columnist comes from a newspaper column, which got that name from the "vertical division of a page" meaning.
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.
See Examples For:
Our tax columnist, Laura Saunders, dives into those perks and how you can take advantage of them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
With the fall festivals in the books, awards columnist Glenn Whipp surveys the landscape and offers his first bold prediction of the 10 best picture nominees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Tech columnist Nicole Nguyen tested five of them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
“Ditka was proud and headstrong,” wrote former Times sports columnist Mike Downey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
I bounced around from New York to Florida and eventually took a job in Detroit as a columnist for the Detroit Free Press.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
Below, some of the best analysis and insight from WSJ writers and columnists, the Dow Jones Newswires team and occasionally beyond, on investing, the wealth-management business and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Follow along live as columnists Mary McNamara and Glenn Whipp discuss the 2026 Emmy Awards below.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
And much like Parsons, Hopper, and the other established columnists of the fan magazine era, there’s a push towards utilizing these same studios to further one’s brand.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
MarketWatch columnists Edd and Cynthia Staton write often about living abroad.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
“The consensus was that Seabiscuit should not have been started in the mud,” wrote Oscar Otis, echoing the words of many columnists.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
