correspondent

American  

[kawr-uh-spon-duhnt, kor-] / ˌkɔr əˈspɒn dənt, ˌkɒr- /

noun

correspondents plural

1. a person who communicates by letters.

2. a person employed by a news agency, periodical, television network, etc., to gather, report, or contribute news, articles, and the like regularly from a distant place.

3. a person who contributes a letter or letters to a newspaper, magazine, etc.

4. a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, especially at a distance.

5. a thing that corresponds to something else.

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adjective

1. consistent, similar, or analogous; corresponding.

correspondent British  

/ ˌkɒrɪˈspɒndənt /

noun

1. a person who communicates by letter or by letters

2. a person employed by a newspaper, etc, to report on a special subject or to send reports from a foreign country

3. a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, esp one in a different part of the country or abroad

4. something that corresponds to another

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adjective

1. similar or analogous

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncorrespondent
  adjective
• precorrespondent
  adjective
• correspondently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• correspondents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of correspondent

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin corrēspondent- (stem of corrēspondēns ), present participle of corrēspondēre to correspond; see -ent

Explanation

A correspondent is a reporter who writes or records stories on one topic or from one region. If you're hired as a radio station's financial correspondent, you'll need to do a lot of research on the economy. A journalist might work as a TV station's Middle East correspondent or a newspaper's education correspondent. You can also call yourself a correspondent if you're a regular letter or email writer, corresponding, or communicating, with someone. As an adjective, though, correspondent means "matching or agreeing." The word is rooted in the Medieval Latin correspondere, "to answer together."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

correspondent correspondents

Without payment processing, correspondent banking, trade finance and credit, American investment cannot reach projects at the scale Venezuela requires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Guest: Josh Keating, senior correspondent covering foreign affairs at Vox.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026

BBC's North America correspondent Shaimaa Khalil was inside the courtroom.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

CBS News executives are trying to fill several correspondent roles after veterans Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and executive producer Tanya Simon were fired by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It was simply another campaign stop, another orchestrated moment; the only difference, as one correspondent wearily put it, was that this particular rally had two high school bands instead of one playing at full throttle.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

The hires follow months of upheaval at the show, including the departures of correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Scott Pelley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Scott Pelley, one of the show’s longest-serving correspondents, departed after pushing back against the firings, criticizing Weiss and questioning Bilton’s qualifications during a staff meeting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

She has overseen a series of controversial moves, including shaking up the evening news and sacking several “60 Minutes” correspondents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

He later launched his podcast Legends of News, speaking to other seasoned journalists and correspondents about major stories they had covered.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Meanwhile, however, he was telling other correspondents quite the opposite.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• contributor
• journalist
• reporter
• writer