editorial

American  

[ed-i-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-] / ˌɛd ɪˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr- /

noun

1. an article in a newspaper or other periodical or on a website presenting the opinion of the publisher, writer, or editor.

2. a statement broadcast on radio or television that presents the opinion of the owner, manager, or the like, of the program, station, or channel.

3. something regarded as resembling such an article or statement, as a lengthy, dogmatic utterance.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the commissioning or compiling of content for publication, or to a person who does such work.

   editorial policies;

   editorial skills.

2. of, relating to, or involved in the preparation of an editorial or editorials.

   editorial page;

   editorial writer.

3. of or relating to the literary and artistic activities or contents of a publication, broadcasting organization, or the like, as distinguished from its business activities, advertisements, etc..

   an editorial employee; an editorial decision, not an advertising one.

editorial British  

/ ˌɛdɪˈtɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to editing or editors

2. of, relating to, or expressed in an editorial

3. of or relating to the content of a publication rather than its commercial aspects

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noun

1. an article in a newspaper, etc, expressing the opinion of the editor or the publishers

editorial Cultural  

1. An article in a newspaper or magazine expressing the opinion of the editor or publisher.

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Other Word Forms

• editorialist
  noun
• editorially
  adverb
• noneditorial
  adjective
• noneditorially
  adverb
• preeditorial
  adjective
• preeditorially
  adverb
• pseudoeditorial
  adjective
• pseudoeditorially
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of editorial

First recorded in 1735–45; editor + -ial

Explanation

An editorial is an article that expresses the opinion of the person who or organization that wrote it. The president of the Llama Lovers Club wrote a scathing editorial in the Llama Times newspaper to protest the rash of llama thefts in her area. Open up any newspaper, and you'll see page after page of articles. Most of these articles were written by journalists who assembled and reported the facts of the story. On the editorial page, however, you'll find nothing but opinion. That opinion might come from the editor of the paper, a local politician, or a concerned citizen who has found some important issue to discuss. Editorial can also refer to the editor of the paper, whose editorial decisions determine which articles — and editorials appear in each edition.

Example Sentences

WSJ Editorial Board member Kate Odell and Anduril Industries President Christian Brose discuss U.S. defense challenges, the shift toward scalable low-cost weapons, and the impact of AI on warfare.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Written by Michael Prescott, who was previously an independent external advisor to the BBC's Editorial Standards Committee, the document was published by the Telegraph newspaper and also flagged the Panorama edit.

From BBC • Nov. 21, 2025

Media groups represented by AMI include Prisa, owner of Spain's top-selling daily El Pais; Vocento, which publishes the conservative newspaper ABC; and Unidad Editorial, whose titles include daily El Mundo and sports newspaper Marca.

From Barron's • Nov. 20, 2025

Less than three years after joining the “Post,” Oliphant received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for an illustration of Ho Chi Minh carrying the body of a dead Vietnamese man.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2025

Editorial writer Heywood Broun also connected the panic to the crisis in Europe.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Related Words

• article
• critique
• opinion
• report
• review