newsprint
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of newsprint
Explanation
Newsprint is the inexpensive paper that's used to print newspapers and ads. Magazines tend to be printed on glossy, high-quality paper, while newspapers are printed on the thin and messy newsprint. Because it's cheap, very strong, and makes a good background for the four-color printing that newspapers typically use, newsprint is the most popular kind of paper for this kind of printing. Newsprint was invented in the mid-1800s, from wood pulp. It comes on rolls that unspool into a printing press. Despite the decline in Western printed newspapers, demand for newsprint continues to grow in much of Asia, especially China.
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.
Gone are the days of flavoring your morning coffee with a bit of ink, accidentally dipping the corner of the newsprint into a mug while thumbing through the pages.
From Salon • Sep. 5, 2025
I wanted to make some larger images from the small newsprint collages.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025
The waste haulers and the people who run the MRFs — materials recovery facilities — have definitely noted the downturn in newsprint and the sudden surge in the cardboard.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 19, 2024
Overhead, the newsprint whips by in a blur, running through a succession of cylinders inked cyan, magenta, yellow and black, before converging into a central machine that folds and cuts it into individual papers.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2024
The giant rolls of newsprint, the rhythmic clacketing of the press—I loved it all.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
