commentator
Americannoun
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commentators
plural
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a person who discusses news, sports events, weather, or the like, as on television or radio.
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a person who makes commentaries.
noun
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a person who provides a spoken commentary for a broadcast, film, etc, esp of a sporting event
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a person who writes notes on a text, event, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of commentator
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin commentātor interpreter, equivalent to commentā ( rī ) to interpret ( Latin: to think about, prepare, discuss, write, perhaps frequentative of comminīscī to devise; see comment) + Latin -tor -tor
Explanation
A person who analyzes and discusses topics in politics and sports is called a commentator. If you want to hear opinions on the news rather than the news itself, listen to commentators. A reporter delivers the news and a commentator analyzes it, sometimes within the same news program. If you're a top sports commentator, you may become an even bigger household name than the players you are discussing, and you may pull in just as much money too. Political commentators, who often offer more opinion rather than analysis, are also sometimes called pundits or talking heads.
Vocabulary lists containing commentator
myPerspectives 10.2
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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.
See Examples For:
The Athletic reports that color commentator Troy Aikman remains unsigned beyond the current season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Laconic Israeli commentator Itamar Eichner wrote the next morning that “Jerusalem had prepared for rain, but what arrived yesterday was a full-blown storm.”
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Jonathan Agnew, the former England fast bowler and the BBC's chief cricket commentator, called the tactics "appalling".
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Palestinian sports commentator Khalil Jadallah has spent the past three years mourning the athletes killed in the Gaza war.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
As Phillips, Frank Readick describes the scene, imitating the frantic Hindenburg commentator.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
This is a crucial distinction because many commentators in effect have been focusing only on the breadth of Wall Street’s bullishness, and concluding that a top must be near.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Klein also points out that despite the uptick in bond yields that many commentators attribute to unsustainable fiscal deficits has caused “so far zero evidence of any looming slowdown in U.S. economic data.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Simon Reynolds was one of the first commentators to notice, and pathologized the backwards-looking, stalled-out culture as “retromania” in 2010.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
Fans and commentators who have previously boycotted the EWC had urged others to continue doing so this year, despite the change of venue.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The Farewell Address, as several commentators have noted, was an oddity in that it was not really an address; it was never delivered as a speech.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
