tabloid.
A small, compressed portion of a chemical, drug, food substance, etc.; a pill, a tablet.
Meaning & usage
A small, compressed portion of a chemical, drug, food substance, etc.; a pill, a tablet.
A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature. In full tabloid cruiser: a small yacht used for cruising.
A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature. A newspaper having pages half the dimensions of a broadsheet, especially characterized as favouring stories of a popular or sensational nature over serious news.
A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature. A paper size 11 × 17 inches (279 × 432 millimetres) in dimensions.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *taðlā Latin tabula Old French table Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old French -ete Old French tabletebor. Middle English tablet English tablet Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English tabloid 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.
In the form of a tabloid (noun senses 2 and 2.2): compressed or compact in size.
Resembling the style of journalism generally associated with a tabloid newspaper: appealing to unsophisticated people, sensational, etc.
tabloid journalism
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *taðlā Latin tabula Old French table Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old French -ete Old French tabletebor. Middle English tablet English tablet Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English tabloid 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.
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.).
To convert (a newspaper) into a tabloid (noun sense 2.2) format.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *taðlā Latin tabula Old French table Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tosder.? Latin -ittus Old French -ete Old French tabletebor. Middle English tablet English tablet Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English tabloid 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.