paparazzi

American  

[pah-puh-raht-see, pah-pah-raht-tsee] / ˌpɑ pəˈrɑt si, ˌpɑ pɑˈrɑt tsi /

plural noun

1. freelance photographers, especially those who take candid pictures of celebrities for publication.

   To evade the paparazzi, the actress sent her car to the front entrance and snuck in the back on foot.

   I felt like a paparazzo as I hung around waiting to catch a glimpse of the singer.

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Etymology

Origin of paparazzi

First recorded in 1965–70; from Italian, from the surname of such a photographer in Federico Fellini's ( def. ) La dolce vita (1959), of disputed origin

Example Sentences

The publicist believes relationships between celebrities and traditional paparazzi photographers are more mutual and transactional, compared to some of the newer forms of fan surveillance.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

Bieber went on to play much-memed videos of himself running into a revolving door and himself falling off a stage; that led to an unfortunate little digression about the paparazzi and their rapacious ways.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Both brothers’ decisions are driven in part by an identical desire: to avoid inflicting on their own families a repeat of their own childhood trauma of seeing their mother chased to her death by paparazzi.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

“And then … you’d come home and paparazzi and all the sort of the trappings of, you know, living in that space.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

The press was there, of course—craning to get a view of Sasha, like paparazzi angling for a shot of the royal family.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater