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

A Lede representative declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss client matters.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 21, 2026

Mayor Karen Bass’ office did not respond to questions about whether she met with Lede, what direction its publicists gave city officials and what role the company had in preparing or editing the after-action report.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 21, 2026

Majors was later dropped by his management company Entertainment 360 and his publicists at the Lede Company.

From Salon • Dec. 8, 2023

National newspaper publisher Gannett has paused the use of Lede AI to write high school sports content for its papers.

From Washington Times • Aug. 31, 2023

Jodocus de Lede adopted a similar method of commemoration.

From The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by Hazlitt, William Carew