A newspaper having pages half the size of those of a standard newspaper, typically featuring sensational headlines and stories. Also refers to journalism characterized by sensationalism and scandal-mongering.
From trademark Tabloid (1884), coined by Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. for compressed pharmaceutical tablets, from 'tablet' + '-oid' (resembling). Extended to newspapers in 1901 due to their 'compressed' news format.
The word 'tabloid' originally had nothing to do with newspapers! It was a pharmaceutical company's trademark for compressed pills, and the newspaper meaning came from the idea of 'compressed' or condensed news stories that could be quickly consumed.
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