columnist
Americannoun
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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:
After his departure from the Dodgers, Claire worked as a columnist and analyst for MLB.com, a radio show host, an instructor at USC and a consultant to companies involved with sports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
When Steve Jobs died in October 2011, Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg remarked that he was on par with Thomas Edison or Henry Ford in terms of his impact on business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
My colleague and WSJ columnist Greg Ip says that view is flawed and offered his take.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Times columnist Amy Kaufman, in a 2024 article assessing the cultural impact of the whirlwind romance between Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
A tearful woman told columnist Teresa Dean, “The good-by is as sad as any I have known in all the years that I have lived.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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
While there were established columnists like Walter Winchell, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, most articles in these magazines either went unbylined or were written under pseudonyms.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Many journalists were especially outraged because of the extreme dangers faced by Mexican reporters, editors, columnists and photographers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Sound advice for a struggling new parent: Slate’s advice columnists have heard it all over the years, so our parenting advice column has been bringing back some classics from the archives.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Several columnists accused him of lacking the courage and sportsmanship to truly test his horse.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
