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columnist

noun

Simple meaning

A journalist who writes editorials.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kahluhmnuhst

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkɑləmnəst

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A regular writer of a column, such as in a magazine or newspaper.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A regular writer of a column, such as in a magazine or newspaper.

Used this way, columnist is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in news or reporting contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • News/reporting

Nearby words

  • editorialist , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use columnist

  • “The newspaper columnist writes weekly articles about current events.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

newspaper columnistgossip columnistfifth columnistadvice columnistpolitical columnistpost columnistconservative columnistcolumnist jack

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • fifth columnistnounCompound term

    A member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader.

  • gossip columnistnounCompound term

    A journalist who writes a column of gossip about celebrities.

  • newspaper columnistnounCompound term

    A columnist who writes for newspapers.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: regular writer of a column

editorialistRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.