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Glite Dictionary
obituarist

obituarist

1 9.4
A person who writes about someone's life after they die for newspapers
  • noun
  • /əˈbɪtʃuˌɛrɪst/
  • Literature
: obituarista
  • Every newspaper in town hires an obituarist to ensure they honor notable local figures.

Examples

  • Obedient, it would seem, to the devilment of some jesting or malicious student, four newspapers this morning have published their obituarists' tributes to the professor who has not yet arrived for the Master's midday drinks.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Deputy Editor, legal expert, obituarist, and Sports Correspondent.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • So is The Obituarist.

    Blog text (33)

  • Obituarist?

    Closer (2004)

  • "Kind," was how Quicke put it; all four obituarists were kind in Quicke's opinion.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Part of one of his poems was quoted in tribute by the Guardian obituarist, himself an affiliate of the Prynne cenacle.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The obituarist carefully researched the life of the famous author before writing the obituary.

  • After the actor's death, the obituarist penned a touching tribute that captured his legacy.

Surface Forms

obituarist singular
obituarists plural

Morphology

obituarist = obituary (transparent) = obituary + ist

Formed by adding the agentive suffix '-ist' to 'obituary', so learners who know 'obituary' and the suffix '-ist' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Obituarist comes from obituary, which in turn comes from the Latin obitus, meaning 'a going away' or 'death'. So an obituarist is someone who writes about a person's 'going away', which is why they write notices and short life stories after someone dies.