commentator
Americannoun
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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
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.
"This is a really poor pitch. This is not the standard of pitch you'd expect for a Lord's Test, and they've got to do something about it," BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew said.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator and British political strategist, has the backing of 21%, while 19% backed billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental activist Tom Steyer, a Democrat.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
As he posed for pictures at the gun counter, Bianco accused Hilton, a political commentator, of growing a beard to compete with the mustache Bianco first grew as a teenager.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
One commentator termed this stock melt-up the “bliss trade.”
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
We had three busy days, with Pierre Dumayet, the commentator, and Claude Loursaid, the director of the Cinq Colonnes a la Une.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
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.
