panelist

American  

[pan-l-ist] / ˈpæn l ɪst /

noun

1. a member of a small group of persons gathered for formal public discussion, judging, playing a radio or television game, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of panelist

First recorded in 1950–55; panel + -ist

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Explanation

If you're a member of a group that's officially (sometimes publicly) discussing a specific subject, you're a panelist. Most panelists are either experts in the subject being discussed, or people whose lives are affected by related issues, developments, or changes. A group of panelists is called a panel, which comes from the Old French, in which it means "piece of cloth," and an Anglo-French legal meaning, "piece of parchment listing jurors." Panelist is an American English invention from about 1950.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

panelist

And his broader point, as well as that of fellow panelist Lip Bu-Tan of Intel, was that demand was incredibly strong.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

And when panelist Geoffrey Chen, a British luxury investor, dismissed rosé as often-inferior, my neighbor hid his freshly ordered glass of pink wine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

She is also a regular panelist on CNN’s roundtable program “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” which extends its reach far beyond its modest ratings through frequent viral clips on social media.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026

Another panelist, Paul N. Watkins, was a legal fellow at Consumers’ Research.

From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2026

The panelist that stood out to me the most was a Japanese man named Mas Okui.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

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