paparazzi

pa-pa-raz-zi · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    Freelance photographers who aggressively pursue celebrities to take candid photographs for sale to magazines and newspapers.

  2. 2.

    (singular: paparazzo) An individual photographer of this type.

Related words

See also: celebrity, media, photographer, tabloid
Synonyms: photographers, tabloid photographers

Etymology

From Italian, named after Paparazzo, a photographer character in Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita. The name may derive from a dialectal word for a buzzing insect, suggesting the annoying persistence of such photographers.