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journalese

American  
[jur-nl-eez, -ees] / ˌdʒɜr nlˈiz, -ˈis /

noun

  1. a manner of writing or speaking characterized by clichés, occasional neologism, archness, sensationalizing adjectives, unusual or faulty syntax, etc., used by some journalists, especially certain columnists, and regarded as typical journalistic style.

  2. writing or expression in this manner.

    Get that journalese out of your copy!


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characterized by this manner (often used predicatively).

    That word's not English, it's journalese.

journalese British  
/ ˌdʒɜːnəˈliːz /

noun

  1. derogatory a superficial cliché-ridden style of writing regarded as typical of newspapers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of journalese

First recorded in 1880–85; journal + -ese

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:

“TK” is journalese for “to come,” and the story kame as promised a few minutes later, with “Historic” in the headline:

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 6, 2016

With the help of a reporter across the pond, my colleague Patrick LaForge unearths more examples of journalese:

From New York Times May 26, 2015

I have taken just a few liberties to condense it into journalese...

From The Guardian May 17, 2012

"A clean break from England is hopefully something he is very interested in," Uncle Iker rambled on, gently tapping out the bowl of his pipe, before swallowing and then regurgitating a dictionary of tabloid journalese.

From The Guardian Jul. 14, 2010

George Moore has compared his perfection to that of the Greeks; is it then justifiable to call Dostoevsky journalese, as some have called him?

From The Best British Short Stories of 1922 by John Cournos

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