columnist

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UK/ˈkɒ.lə.mɪst/UK/ˈkɒ.ləm.nɪst/US/ˈkɑ.ləm.nɪst/US/ˈkɑ.lə.mɪst/

noun

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

“a news columnist”

CommonScrabble 13

Meanings

nouncolumnist (plural columnists)

plural columnists

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

    a news columnist

    4 more examples

    a sports columnist

    a sporadic columnist

    Ann Landers, who sometimes wrote her columns from her bathtub, called herself “the general manager of the world,” which pretty much describes the types of questions an advice columnist might be called upon to answer.

    2006, Alecia T. Devantier, Carol A. Turkington, Extraordinary Jobs in Media, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 1

    As soon as it was suggested that it was considering the Swedish model – in which men are criminalised for buying sex, but the women working in prostitution are decriminalised – a slew of prominent male columnists started arguing against this infringement on a man's right to purchase a woman's body.

    2008 February 27, Kira Cochrane, “How could it happen again?”, in The Guardian

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna journalist who writes editorials

Broader
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷel-
  2. Englishcolumnist

From column + -ist, from Latin and Greek, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كَاتِب عَمُود
  • كَاتِب عَمُود (kātib ʕamūd)regular writer of a column
Catalan columnista
  • columnistaregular writer of a column
Czech sloupkař
  • sloupkařregular writer of a column
Danish klummeskriver
  • klummeskriverregular writer of a column
Dutch columnist, columniste
  • columnistregular writer of a column
  • columnisteregular writer of a column
Finnish kolumnisti
  • kolumnistiregular writer of a column
French chroniqueur
  • chroniqueurregular writer of a column
German Kolumnist, Kolumnistin
  • Kolumnistregular writer of a column
  • Kolumnistinregular writer of a column
Hindi स्तंभ-लेखक
  • स्तंभ-लेखक (stambh-lekhak)regular writer of a column
Indonesian kolumnis
  • kolumnisregular writer of a column
Irish colúnaí
  • colúnaíregular writer of a column
Italian colonnista
  • colonnistaregular writer of a column
Malay kolumnis
  • kolumnisregular writer of a column
Persian ستوننویس
  • ستوننویسregular writer of a column
Polish felietonista
  • felietonistaregular writer of a column
Portuguese colunista
  • colunistaregular writer of a column
Punjabi ਕਾਲਮ ਨਵੀਸ
  • ਕਾਲਮ ਨਵੀਸ (kālam navīs)regular writer of a column
Romanian columnist, editorialist
  • columnistregular writer of a column
  • editorialistregular writer of a column
  • foiletonistregular writer of a column
Russian колумни́ст
  • колумни́ст (kolumníst)regular writer of a column
Scottish Gaelic colbhair
  • colbhairregular writer of a column
Spanish columnista, articulista
  • columnistaregular writer of a column
  • articulistaregular writer of a column
Swedish krönikör, kåsör
  • krönikörregular writer of a column
  • kåsörregular writer of a column
  • kolumnistregular writer of a column
Tagalog manunudling, kolumnista
  • manunudlingregular writer of a column
  • kolumnistaregular writer of a column
Turkish köşe yazarı
  • köşe yazarıregular writer of a column
Ukrainian колумни́ст
  • колумни́ст (kolumnýst)regular writer of a column
Vietnamese người viết chuyên mục
  • người viết chuyên mụcregular writer of a column
Cite this entry
APA

columnist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columnist

MLA

“columnist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columnist. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “columnist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columnist.

Source: columnist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.