columnist
Americannoun
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:
I recommended to John Carroll, the then-editor of the paper, that he make her a columnist and urged Babitz to write him directly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Plus, Trump’s frustrations over the Iran war, behind the scenes with our travel columnist, and the fight to save all-you-can-eat buffets in Las Vegas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
One person in Washington perfectly illustrates this phenomenon: Sally Quinn, the longtime columnist and doyenne of what remains of the Georgetown set.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Our travel columnist Dawn Gilbertson tested the newest Miami outpost of PS, a private luxury terminal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
To resist propaganda, the columnist continued, people need to apply “a healthy skepticism” to what they read and hear.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Navigating a temporary injury made our Retirement Rookies columnists realize that the quality of their “go-slow” years will depend on alternative transportation—from autonomous taxis to the bus to a walk around town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Perhaps you’ve followed MarketWatch columnists Edd and Cynthia Staton, who moved to Cuenca, Ecuador, 15 years ago for the lower cost of living.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
For the first time, newspaper columnists are pondering a hypothetical scenario in which he might withdraw from the election.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Follow our live chat as Times columnists Mary McNamara and Glenn Whipp break down the big winners, best performances, most memorable moments and more from the 2026 Oscars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026
Even so, the social columnists still did not write about his wife’s dresses when he and she attended the opera, the way they described the nightly couture of mesdames Palmer, Pullman, and Armour.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
