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Synonyms

columnist

American  
[kol-uhm-nist, -uh-mist] / ˈkɒl əm nɪst, -ə mɪst /

noun

  1. the writer or editor of a newspaper or magazine column.

columnist British  
/ -əmnɪst, ˈkɒləmɪst /

noun

  1. a journalist who writes a regular feature in a newspaper

    a gossip columnist
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of columnist

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; column + -ist

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.

TACO, for those who aren’t familiar, is an acronym popularized last year by Robert Armstrong, a columnist with the FT.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

Over the past year, the “TACO trade,” as many on Wall Street call it, has evolved from a humorous acronym, first popularized by a columnist with the Financial Times, into a major force in markets.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

"Nowhere else in the world is like this," wrote Toronto-based columnist Chris Selley in the National Post last week.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Times columnist Patt Morrison, Smoglandia traces the rise, impact, and retreat of the city’s most insidious pollution.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

“All of us are happy to call him our Ace of Space,” wrote a columnist in the Pittsburgh Courier.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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.