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Dictionary definition of “listicle”

listicle

n. a (newspaper, magazine, web site, etc.) article consisting primarily of a list. Subjects: , ,
Editorial Note: This term is often used in a deprecating way, to describe an article or news story which required very little effort to produce. Etymological Note: list + article
Citations: *2001 John Davin John Davin’s Website (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (July 14) “My Comments and News”: Added an article to the listicle to the lists section. 2003 Elizabeth Spiers Gawker (New York City) (July 31) “The Daily Listicle: Corn, Castro & Che”: I’ve decided to default to one of the magazine world’s last great lame clichés—lists. Lists as articles. Listicles. (I feel dirty even saying it.) Consider this my homage to sappy service journalism. 2003 [Joey] Tale of Two Cities (New York City) (Nov. 13) “Our Mutual Friends”: It’s called “Out Mutual Friends,” and it’s an alphabetical rundown of things we like, hate, think are cool, think suck, are funny, are not funny, etc. Yes, a “listicle” if you will, of things that are currently impacting the zeitgeist. 2004 Anil Dash Anil Dash (Oct. 6) “Best of Best Of”: People who haven’t worked in the publishing industry (or haven’t worked at the Voice) don’t necessarily know that “best of” issues are generally a chance for the editorial staff to phone it in. Inside jokes, lazy writing, and the triumph of the listicle, it’s everything I love in a paper that’s mainly funded by ads from whores. I say that because I love my Voice friends!

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