tabloid
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tabloid
- /ˈtæblɔɪd/ UK
- /ˈtæbˌlɔɪd/ US
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from tabl(et) + -oid (suffix meaning ‘having the likeness of, resembling’), originally coined by the United Kingdom firm Burroughs, Wellcome & Company as a brand name for their medicines and other products such as tea in tablet form and registered as a trademark on 14 March 1884.
Noun sense 2 (“compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature”) is influenced by noun sense 2.2 (“newspaper characterized as favouring stories of a popular or sensational nature over serious news”).
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
noun tabloids
- A small, compressed portion of a chemical, drug, food substance, etc.; a pill, a tablet. One of the compartments was found to contain some forty compressed tabloids, which on analysis proved to be potassium bromide.
- In full tabloid cruiser: a small yacht used for cruising. This boat Mayfay has been admirable as a tabloid cruiser and while Sure Mike is about her same size, Sure Mike is far more nicely modeled; she will not have Mayfay's 17-mile-an-hour homespun plainness.
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A newspaper having pages half the dimensions of a broadsheet, especially characterized as favouring stories of a popular or sensational nature over serious news.
[…] Lyle Stuart, […] is known—notorious would be the proper word—for his publishing and writing in the fields of obscenity and extreme leftism: he puts out a sort of tabloid called "The Independent".
Similar: rag, red top, scandal sheet, tab
- A paper size 11 × 17 inches (279 × 432 millimetres) in dimensions.
adjective
- In the form of a tabloid (noun senses 2 and 2.2): compressed or compact in size. Travellers, explorers and missionaries are enabled to carry the most effective medicines in the smallest possible space by using ‘Tabloid’ Medicine cases as supplied to [Henry Morton] Stanley and to all leading expeditions. ‘Tabloid’ medicines contain absolutely accurate doses of the purest drugs, r
- Resembling the style of journalism generally associated with a tabloid newspaper: appealing to unsophisticated people, sensational, etc. tabloid journalism
verb tabloids · tabloiding · tabloided
- To express (something) in a compact or condensed manner, especially in the style of journalism generally associated with a tabloid newspaper (appealing to unsophisticated people, sensational, etc.). This "tabloiding" of the latest fashions, we thought an excellent idea. Surely it's not the sole mission of a dry goods ad. to give news of bargains? Would not reliable information as to coming fashions be of equal interest to the average woman?
- To convert (a newspaper) into a tabloid (noun sense 2.2) format. The ‘tabloiding’ of local newspapers has resulted in a ‘dumbing down’ of the local press. The publication of shorter, brighter, ‘frothier’ stories and the increasing reliance on stories about entertainment, consumer items and ‘human interest’ stories, are the infallible hallmarks of the tabloid genr
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: yellow journalism, sheet, rag, popular, sensationalist, sensational, yellowcake, yellow, scandals, compact, broadloid, tabloidization, tabloidese, broadsheet, berliner, tabloidism
Translations
Every language
noun newspaper especially characterized as favouring stories of a popular or sensational nature over serious news
| Español | tabloide |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 타블로이드 tabeulloideu |
| 日本語 | タブロイド taburoido, 小型新聞 kogata shinbun |
| Português | tabloide |
| Français | tabloïd, tabloïde |
| Deutsch | Tabloid, Boulevardblatt, Revolverblatt, Skandalblatt |
| Italiano | tabloid |
| Română | tabloid |
| Русский | табло́ид tablóid, бульва́рная газе́та bulʹvárnaja gazéta, газетёнка gazetjónka |
| Tiếng Việt | báo khổ nhỏ |
| العربية | تابلويد |
| עברית | צְהֻבּוֹן tz'hubón |
adj in the form of a tabloid: compressed or compact in size
| Français | tabloïd |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Tabloid-, kleinformatig |
| Русский | бульва́рный bulʹvárnyj |
adj resembling the style of journalism generally associated with a tabloid newspaper: appealing to unsophisticated people, sensational, etc.
| Español | amarillista |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | boulevardesk |
| Română | tabloid |
| Русский | бульва́рный bulʹvárnyj |
Talk about this word "tabloid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tabloid. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tabloid. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tabloid "tabloid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tabloid.Cite this
@misc{tabloid_2026,
title = {tabloid},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tabloid},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
