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tabloidism

 - 3 dictionary results

tab⋅loid

  [tab-loid]
Use tabloidism in a Sentence
–noun
1. a newspaper whose pages, usually five columns wide, are about one-half the size of a standard-sized newspaper page.
2. a newspaper this size concentrating on sensational and lurid news, usually heavily illustrated.
3. a short form or version; condensation; synopsis; summary.
–adjective
4. compressed or condensed in or as if in a tabloid: a tabloid article; a tabloid account of the adventure.
5. luridly or vulgarly sensational.
Origin:
1905–10; tabl(et) + -oid

Related forms:
tab⋅loid⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tabloidism
tab·loid   (tāb'loid')   
n.  A newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational material.
adj.  

  1. In summary form; condensed.

  2. Lurid or sensational.


[From tabloid journalism, from Tabloid, trademark for a drug or chemical in condensed form.]
tab'loid'ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tabloid 
1884, "small tablet of medicine," trademark name (by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co.) for compressed or concentrated chemicals and drugs, formed from tablet + Gk.-derived suffix -oid, from oeides "like." By 1898, it was being used figuratively to mean a compressed form or dose of anything, hence tabloid journalism (1901), and newspapers that typified it (1918), so called for having short, condensed news articles and/or for being small in size.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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