publicist
Americannoun
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publicists
plural
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a person who publicizes, especially a press agent or public-relations consultant.
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an expert in current public or political affairs.
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an expert in public or international law.
noun
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a person who publicizes something, esp a press or publicity agent
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a journalist
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rare a person learned in public or international law
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of publicist
From German, dating back to 1785–95; see origin at public, -ist
Explanation
A publicist creates a media buzz for movie stars, restaurants, or whoever else needs attention. A publicist for a new restaurant might send out a press release to newspapers and magazines announcing the opening, emphasizing the fabulous. Those whose careers depend on getting attention in the media (on TV and the internet, for example) sometimes pay a publicist to generate coverage in the press. Actors, restaurants, writers, and oil companies are all things or people that commonly use publicists. In the eighteenth century, the word instead meant "person who knows public law" or "writer on current topics."
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:
“This is not the end of the appellate process,” Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein’s publicist, said in June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Grande's publicist announced in August that the singer and actress would be "taking a step back from visibility" after her recent tour ended.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Epstein also placed Molchanova in internships arranged by his friends, including a stretch she describes interning for the publicist Peggy Siegal in 2016.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said in a statement Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
“So how do you feel about your decision to do this now that you’re halfway across Washington? Your publicist, Olivia Ogden, said you’ve gone almost—” She checks her notes.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
As one editor explained, the opaqueness of these decisions allows for “plausible deniability” at any point in the chain—from publicists to indie bookstore employees—even as various parties might be deliberately subverting a book’s prospects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
This is what Walmart, the publicists for the nation’s hottest rising country act, and many politicians have noticed too.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
What are the calls with publicists like now to get their clients to participate?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
He said all the articles "were sourced entirely legitimately from information variously provided by contacts of the journalists responsible", including press officers and publicists, freelance journalists, photographers and prior reports.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
I'm also relatively certain other teenagers in my neighborhood did not wake up at 5:00 in the morning, along with publicists and studio heads, just so they could watch the Oscar nominations announced live.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
