Meanings
nounlongread (plural longreads)
plural longreads
- journalismA piece of (online) long-form journalism.
Do longreads and long-form—those two words that developed from a hash tag—equal essay? In a way, it is instead the definition of the essay that has expanded to include the abovementioned form.
2017, Orit Gat, “The Essay and the Internet”, in Houman Barekat, Robert Barry, David Winters, editors, The Digital Critic: Literary Culture Online, OR Books, →ISBN
Origin
From long + read, perhaps from its use as a hashtag to describe such articles starting in 2009.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
longread. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longread
MLA
“longread.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longread. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “longread,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longread.
Source: longread on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.