noun
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a person who reports, esp one employed to gather news for a newspaper, news agency, or broadcasting organization
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a person, esp a barrister, authorized to write official accounts of judicial proceedings
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a person authorized to report the proceedings of a legislature
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social welfare an official who arranges and conducts children's panel hearings and who may investigate cases and decide on the action to be taken
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of reporter
1350–1400; Middle English reportour < Anglo-French ( Old French reporteur ). See report, -er 1
Explanation
A reporter is a journalist who goes out and gets the scoop on the news and informs the rest of us. If there’s a news conference or a train crash, a reporter is probably there getting the lowdown. If you want to be a reporter one day, you might study journalism in college, learning to write accurate and informative stories. Many reporters research, write, and edit articles about politics or current events, but you could also be a pop culture reporter or a tech reporter. The newspaper sense of reporter dates from 1798 — earlier it simply meant "one who gives an account."
Vocabulary lists containing reporter
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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Journalism Jargon
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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:
“You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-wee Herman look-alike,” he said when asked by CNN reporter Kristen Holmes about Ossoff’s comments.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
The people behind Delphi Analytica took down their website and refused to be identified, telling a local reporter: “Thanks again and go kid rock.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
That’s a question WSJ Leadership Institute reporter Kristin Broughton tries to answer in her story about how CFOs are thinking about semiannual reporting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Crews also attended incidents elsewhere in Wales, including in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, where a BBC reporter on the scene said residents were "frightened".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“Where did you hide the Msaidizi?” a reporter asks from one.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
"Yeah, I will be," Trump told reporters during a tour of a new helipad he is building at the White House, when asked if he planned to meet Kim later in 2026.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Our reporters take you inside the frantic race to quell it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Burrows said he was "not opposed to reform of the health service" but added: "Because a proposal has the label reform doesn't make the proposal correct."
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Becerra spoke with reporters after visiting Little Tokyo businesses and chatting with locals and visitors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Beloved Arcanum instructor Masterji Thakur got tangled in Gia Trivelino’s twisted web, reporters learned.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
