Meaning & use
columnist
Last updated
UK/ˈkɒləm.nɪst/
US/ˈkɑːləm.nɪst/
Meaning
nouncountable
A journalist who writes a regular article giving opinions or comments for a newspaper or magazine.
Grammar: Countable; use a/an or plural -s. Often followed by 'for' + publication.
Patterns
- a columnist for a newspaper
- a political/sports columnist
- write a column
She is a well-known columnist for The Times.
The columnist criticized the government's new policy.
He works as a sports columnist for a local paper.
Word forms
| plural | columnists |
|---|
Common combinations
- newspaper columnist
- The newspaper columnist wrote about the election.
- political columnist
- A political columnist often appears on TV talk shows.
- syndicated columnist
- Her column is carried by many papers; she is a syndicated columnist.
- columnist for
- He is a columnist for The Washington Post.
Synonyms and how they differ
- commentator
- A commentator gives opinions on events, often on radio or TV, while a columnist writes regularly for print.
- journalist
- A journalist reports news; a columnist mainly offers opinion and analysis.
- writer
- A writer is a general term; a columnist specifically writes a regular column.
Word family
- column noun
- A regular article in a newspaper or magazine, or a vertical section of print.
Commonly confused: columnist or column?
columnist vs column
A columnist writes a column; the column is the article itself.
Practice
She is a columnist ___ The Guardian.
Choose one answer.
'For' is used to show the publication a columnist writes for. 'In' could mean she is physically inside the newspaper office, not the regular writer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “columnist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.