biographer
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of biographer
First recorded in 1705–15; biograph(y) + -er 1
Explanation
A biographer is a writer who specializes in true stories of other people's lives. The finished books that biographers publish are called biographies. In some cases, well-known writers, actors, and other public figures work with biographers in order to collaborate on their own biographies. Other times, biographers research the lives of their subjects after they've died. In the 1660s, they were known as biographists. The root of all variations on biography is the Late Greek biographia, "description of life," from bio-, "life," and graphia, "record or account."
Vocabulary lists containing biographer
Words to Live By: Bio
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: bio
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: graph
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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.
“His forte is listening,” Cooke, the biographer, said of Lesch, whose polite, unassuming manner reflects an adult life spent mostly in San Antonio.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
Sir Anthony Seldon, historian and biographer of prime ministers, praised the subtlety of what the King seemed to have pulled off.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
“Usually these visits are a glorified patting on the back,” said Andrew Roberts, a British historian and royal biographer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
According to biographer William J. Simmons, Woods was uninterested in saloons, instead devoting himself to studying an emerging technology—electricity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
During these same years, Elizebeth searched for a biographer to write the story of William’s life.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
