newsworthy

Etymology

It is formed from English news + worthy.^[2][3] The Shorter Oxford analyses it as news with the suffix -worthy,^[4] and Dictionary.com likewise.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Interesting enough to be reported as news: the revised OED's first quotation is from a letter of F. Davison of 6 November 1596.^[2] The other dictionaries date the word much later: Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1890, Dictionary.com to 1930–35, Etymonline to 1932 and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 20th century.^[6][5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the same, of interest to the general public and so worth reporting;^[2][3][6] the OED's definition adds that it is the media that judge a thing to merit attention, and gives topical as a near synonym.^[2] The derivatives newsworthiness and newsworthily are dated by the Shorter Oxford to the mid 20th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1596 – of enough interest to be mentioned in the news.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1890 and Etymonline to 1932.^[6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Interesting or important enough to the public to be reported in the news; topical: The minister's resignation was hardly newsworthy.^[6][7][2]

Word family

• newsworthiness
• unnewsworthy

Related words

• news

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins