talking head
/ˌtɔkɪŋ ˈhɛd/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.09 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A journalist or pundit, especially one on television, who presents or discusses issues of the day.
Example Sentences
- "Early TV newscasts consisted largely of "talking heads"—a reporter reading news bulletins or interviewing prominent politicians—but maps were frequently employed as visual aids, particularly for war news."
- "We've seen the respect once reserved for serious thinkers transferred to talking-head experts, skilled at reducing their messages to thirty-second sound bites."
- "But Theodore Lowi is not a talking head leveling vitriol against the political system to make money. He is a thinker making a powerful, well-reasoned argument that resonates even with his critics, though sometimes the prose style is a little dense."
Etymology
Probably from the fact that when a pundit is speaking on television, the camera often zooms in on his or her head.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌtɔkɪŋ ˈhɛd/
- British English: /ˌtɔːkɪŋ ˈhɛd/