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:
Anne Carson, the Canadian poet, essayist, professor of classics and translator, has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in literature.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The author is an essayist and native Angeleno.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But, as the radical essayist Thomas Paine warned, “America is above your reach.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
What the French essayist offers us “shall smack of the earth and of real life, sweet, or smart, or stinging.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
But Wilfrid Sheed, an American novelist and essayist, penned a comment just before the match ended that many would later regard as prescient.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Several essayists have described common characteristics of the “Star Wars” generation in terms of its existence at a technological turning point.
From Salon ● May 25, 2024
“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
Although plans to accept electronic submissions are in the works, so far the project has been decidedly analog, starting with snail mail correspondence between potential essayists and a cadre of Hamilton student volunteers.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
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
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
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