tabloid

American  

[tab-loid] / ˈtæb lɔɪd /

noun

1. a newspaper whose pages, usually five columns wide, are about one-half the size of a standard-sized newspaper page.

2. a newspaper this size concentrating on sensational and lurid news, usually heavily illustrated.

3. a short form or version; condensation; synopsis; summary.

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adjective

1. compressed or condensed in or as if in a tabloid.

   a tabloid article; a tabloid account of the adventure.

2. luridly or vulgarly sensational.

tabloid British  

/ ˈtæblɔɪd /

noun

1. a newspaper with pages about 30 cm (12 inches) by 40 cm (16 inches), usually characterized by an emphasis on photographs and a concise and often sensational style Compare broadsheet

2. (modifier) designed to appeal to a mass audience or readership; sensationalist

   the tabloid press

   tabloid television

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Other Word Forms

• tabloidism noun

Etymology

Origin of tabloid

First recorded in 1905–10; tabl(et) + -oid

Example Sentences

First as a denizen of New York’s tabloid culture and then as the star of TV’s faux-boardroom drama, “The Apprentice.”

From Los Angeles Times

Yet the singer — a tabloid fixture since the days when he dated Taylor Swift and Jessica Simpson — says he’s not tortured by his haters.

From Los Angeles Times

Khounganian sought to have Uber’s case against him dismissed, with his attorneys calling it in one court filing “a lawsuit designed purely for tabloid effect with no meaningful effort at substance.”

From Los Angeles Times

She said a friend added the offensive caption to the 11 December post without her consent, according to local tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.

From BBC

It was once the job of “sleazy” tabloids to destroy lives with lurid gossip that titillated the public but lacked public interest in the high-minded sense.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• paper