lede

American  

[leed] / lid /

Or lead

noun

1. Journalism.

   1. a short summary serving as an introduction to a news story, article, or other copy.

   2. the main and often most important news story.

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Etymology

Origin of lede

First recorded in 1950–55; altered spelling of lead ¹ ( def. ) (in the journalism sense “short introductory summary”), used in the printing trades to distinguish it from the homograph lead ² ( def. ) (in the sense “thin strip of type metal for increasing the space between lines of type”)

Explanation

In news reporting, the lede is the main idea in the first few lines of a story. Most writers work hard to make the lede interesting and accurate. While this word is sometimes spelled lead, and either way rhymes with reed, it's especially common in American journalism to use lede. The phrase "to bury the lede" means to unwittingly neglect to emphasize the very most important part of the story — a no-no in journalism. The unusual spelling comes from an attempt to distinguish the word from the "metal" meaning of lead, which rhymes with bed.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lede

Which rather diminishes the headline, the lede, and the whole rationale for putting the story on the front page.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

This serves as your lede — the first few sentences.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

The headlines from the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy-decision meeting this coming week will, to use journalists’ jargon, likely bury the lede.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025

You can’t accuse those who title “NOVA” episodes of burying the lede with “Ancient Desert Death Trap.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

Thys fraye bygan at Otterborne, Bytwene the nyght and the day; Ther the Dowglas lost hys lyffe, And the Perssy was lede awaye.

From Ballads of Scottish Tradition and Romance Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Third Series by Frank Sidgwick