essayist
Americannoun
-
essayists
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of essayist
Explanation
Someone who writes short, literary nonfiction is an essayist. If you love penning political manifestos or book reviews, you might want to try being a published essayist. Anyone who writes short pieces of nonfiction can describe themselves as an essayist, especially if those essays get published in journals or on websites. All you need to do to become an essayist is polish your writing skills and find a topic you're really interested in — then start writing essays! Essayist is from essay and its Latin root exigere, "try out or test."
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:
But, as the radical essayist Thomas Paine warned, “America is above your reach.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The author is a Los Angeles–based novelist and essayist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
“Sure you’re romantic about American history,” wrote DeVoto, a historian and essayist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
The musician was also known as an acclaimed essayist and poet, with an irrepressible sense of humour.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
Still, those writers would likely have been thinking of Indians without him—the essayist Montaigne had noted the same antiauthoritarian attitudes a century earlier.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Soon after, wannabe authoritarians attack the comedians, essayists, playwrights and poets.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Palestine’s poets, scholars, novelists and journalists and essayists have risked everything, including their lives and the lives of their families, to share their words with the world,” the letter reads in part.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
In the ’90s, he held regular gatherings at his Angelino Heights home where community activists like the late Levi Kingston would cross-pollinate with emerging young essayists such as Lynell George and Rubén Martínez.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2022
Each year, we invite essayists to forward their work to us after they’ve submitted their thoughts on money, work, social class and related matters as part of their college applications.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2022
There are, to be sure, stand-up comedians, shaggy- dog raconteurs, consummate essayists, and authors of mystery novels who can build up curiosity and suspense and then resolve it all with a sudden revelation.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
