tabloid

American  

[tab-loid] / ˈtæb lɔɪd /

noun

• tabloids
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• tabloidism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tabloids
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tabloid

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

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Explanation

A tabloid is a newspaper, especially one that's smaller than a traditional daily paper and focuses on sensational news items. If you're lucky, you might read some juicy tabloid headlines when you pass the corner newsstand. A tabloid is more likely to print celebrity gossip or crime stories with large photographs than news about international issues or the economy, especially on the front page. Tabloids aren't taken entirely seriously as journalism, although they are very popular and tend to sell well. The word tabloid originally meant "small tablet of medicine" in the 1880's. By 1900, it also meant "a compressed form of anything," including journalism.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tabloid tabloids

Since then, she’s become the subject of tabloid fodder and a variety of entertainment projects, including a Hulu show based on her life, “The Dropout.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

The New York Post tabloid described her as "visibly nervous."

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

A gritty throwback to print journalism: Danny Boyle’s new film, Ink, depicts Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of the Sun, turning it into the United Kingdom’s top tabloid paper.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

He added that people should learn from Princess Diana's example, and that for anyone being "destroyed daily" by the tabloid press, it must be a "cancerous influence" on their lives.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

It comes from a weekly feature in a local tabloid, The Cape Codder, called “Ask the Bird Folks.”

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Thrust into the limelight, tabloids snapped photos of him travelling and with his new wife Rachel Danis.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Prince Harry, who relocates back to Britain shortly with his family, will open a new chapter in his ever-eventful life which once seemed improbable amid royal feuds, battles over security and lawsuits against UK tabloids.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

His work was picked up by both Cambridge student journalists and English tabloids, who questioned why the illustrious institution had hired him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The two aren’t believed to have spoken in years and British tabloids had reported extensively on Meghan’s infighting with Prince William’s wife, Kate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

People scooped up these tabloids, devoured their gossip, and on previous trips to England, I had always done the same.

From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom

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