cover story

noun

1. a magazine article highlighted by an illustration on the cover.

2. a fabricated story used to conceal a true purpose; alibi.

   No one believed the cover story released to the press.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cover story¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Idioms and Phrases

A featured story in a magazine that concerns the illustration on the cover, as in The earthquake is this week's cover story for all the news magazines . [Mid-1900s]

A false story intended to mislead or deceive; also, an alibi. For example, Their cover story while investigating local repair services was that they had just bought the house and were having problems, or The suspect gave the police some cover story about being held up . [Mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

“Real love happens not when everything is going well but when things are going badly,” Kidman told People in a 2019 cover story.

From Los Angeles Times

Gomez revealed in a cover story with Interview Magazine that she first met Blanco more than a decade ago, when she was about 16 or 17, to potentially collaborate on a song.

From Los Angeles Times

I keep going over my cover story in my head.

From BBC

Both men have been featured in Men’s Health magazine, including a cover story on Doncic published Monday that detailed his commitment to redistributing weight through intense workouts and a better diet.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, Lyonne took a hard right in the other direction, giving a tasteless quote to New York Magazine” for their cover story on Hollywood’s move toward AI earlier this month.

From Salon

Related Words

• alibi 
• apology 
• justification 
• pretext 
• rationalization 
• substitute 
• trick