shoe-leather

adjective

shoe-leath·​er ˈshü-ˌle-t͟hər 

: involving or using basic, direct, or old-fashioned methods

shoe-leather journalism

Examples of shoe-leather in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These projects often cross the line from cookbook to ethnography, buoyed by shoe-leather reporting overseas. — Jamie Feldmar, Saveur, 15 Apr. 2026

Our list of Americans detained was assembled through shoe-leather reporting. — Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica, 6 Dec. 2025

Barragán took an old-school shoe-leather approach to a very online subject, flying to Lagos to embed himself with a group of young, desperate grifters. — Carlos Barragán, Wired News, 1 June 2026

The other is Seymour Hersh, an investigative reporter/writer of the shoe-leather era, a throwback who is still at the admirable if frustrating business, fighting the good fight in an increasingly muddy media landscape. — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 13 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shoe-leather

• together
• aether
• gether
• heather
• leather
• nether
• tether
• weather
• wether
• whether
• altogether