Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
One who investigates and exposes issues of corruption that often violate widely held values; e.g. one who exposes political corruption or the poor conditions in prisons.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: investigative journalist
Antonyms: none provided
noun
One of a group of American investigative reporters, novelists and critics of the Progressive Era (the 1890s to the 1920s).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A sensationalist, scandalmongering journalist, one who is not driven by any social principles.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, derogatory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sensation-monger, shitmonger, shit-stirrer
noun
one who spreads real or alleged scandal about another (usually for political advantage)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: mudslinger
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: detractor, disparager, depreciator, knocker
History
From muck + raker. Believed to have been coined following a 1906 speech by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, in which he likened the investigative journalist to ‘the Man with the Muck-rake’, a character in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
Across languages
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
