Meaning & use
muckraker
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Meaning
nouncountabledisapproving
A journalist who searches for and exposes scandal, corruption, or wrongdoing, often in politics or business.
Grammar: Countable: one muckraker, two muckrakers. Often used with 'a' or in the plural.
Patterns
- a muckraker who exposes something
- accuse someone of being a muckraker
The article called him a muckraker for revealing the company's illegal payments.
Muckrakers in the early 1900s wrote about unsafe food and child labor.
She was praised as a muckraker after her reports on city hall corruption.
Word forms
| plural | muckrakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a political muckraker
- The political muckraker published secret emails from the mayor's office.
- accused of being a muckraker
- The senator accused the reporter of being a muckraker with a personal agenda.
- muckraking journalism
- Muckraking journalism helped change the laws on factory safety.
- a famous muckraker
- Ida Tarbell is remembered as a famous muckraker of the Progressive Era.
Synonyms and how they differ
- investigative journalist
- A neutral term for someone who does deep research; 'muckraker' often suggests a more aggressive or scandal-focused approach.
- whistleblower
- A person inside an organization who reveals wrongdoing; a muckraker is usually an outside reporter, not an employee.
- exposé writer
- Focuses on the published article or book that reveals secrets, while 'muckraker' focuses on the person.
Word family
- muckraking noun
- The activity of searching for and exposing scandal, as in 'a career in muckraking'.
- muckrake verb
- To search for and expose scandal; less common than the noun forms.
Commonly confused: muckraker or muck?
muckraker vs muck
Muck is dirt or manure; a muckraker is not someone who literally rakes muck, but a journalist who digs up scandal.
Practice
What is a muckraker?
Choose one answer.
A muckraker is a journalist who investigates and reveals wrongdoing, often in politics or business. Option B takes the word too literally. Option C describes a liar or gossip, not an investigative reporter. Option D is the opposite: a muckraker exposes corruption rather than hides it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “muckraker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.