think piece

American  

[thingk pees] / ˈθɪŋk ˌpis /

Or thinkpiece

noun

1. Also called dope story.  Journalism. an article, as in a magazine or journal, analyzing and giving the background of a news event or public issue, usually with the author's opinions.

   Our assessments in this think piece are inherently subjective.

2. an artistic work, film, etc., that stimulates thought and discussion.

   a cinematic think piece on the meaning of “heroism.”

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think piece Idioms  

1. An article that presents news analysis, background material, and the author's opinions, as in Her goal was to write think pieces but the editor kept assigning crime stories. [c. 1940]

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Etymology

Origin of think piece

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

“Fascist isn’t quite the right category for the Empire,” opined a commenter on a 2022 think piece posted on the Online Library of Liberty.

From Salon • May 7, 2025

The system is very clearly designed so that if I have a moment of universal acclaim, then a think piece on the other side comes out.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2024

Instead, the enticement of this sort of think piece delights not in the brutality of violence but in the intricacy of the artful con.

From Slate • Jul. 22, 2024

At its center, “WASPS” is a think piece, a colossal essay that assumes a measure of sophistication about the topic on the part of the reader.

From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2021

Some weeks later, The Times ran a Sunday think piece with the headline “This ‘Spook’ Has No Respect for Human Life.”

From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2020