readership

American  

[ree-der-ship] / ˈri dərˌʃɪp /

noun

1. the people who read or are thought to read a particular book, newspaper, magazine, etc..

   The periodical has a dwindling readership.

2. the duty, status, or profession of a reader.

3. (especially in British universities) the position of instructor or lecturer.

4. the state or quality of being a reader.

   appealing to a higher level of readership.

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readership British  

/ ˈriːdəʃɪp /

noun

1. all the readers collectively of a particular publication or author

   a readership of five million

   Dickens's readership

2. the office, position, or rank of university reader

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Etymology

Origin of readership

First recorded in 1710–20; reader + -ship

Explanation

Readership is another way to talk about all the readers of a particular book or periodical. If your online magazine has a readership of five, and one of them is your mom, it's not a roaring success. A newspaper, website, or author's readership is their audience — it's the group of people who regularly read their publication. The local zine writer might have a readership in the dozens, while the Harry Potter books have a vast readership, numbering in the millions. When newspapers and magazines started to lose their readerships, many turned their attention to online versions.

Example Sentences

Hao’s bestselling account of OpenAI and its neoimperial ambitions has received lots of coverage, though it deserves an even wider readership.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2025

Though not without pushback from editors at home, who were more sympathetic to the quasi-isolationist, less interventionist views of their readership.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

And the broader readership of the New York Times is not even in agreement with Ezra Klein on this one.

From Slate • Sep. 16, 2025

Gaiman, one of our most successful living authors, has long taken pride in catering to his female readership.

From Salon • Jul. 3, 2025

The amount of abstraction that a writer can get away with depends on the expertise of her readership.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker