muckrakers

noun

plural of muckraker
as in journalists
someone who tries to reveal information about prominent individuals behaving badly The newspaper used a team of seasoned muckrakers to expose the corruption at city hall.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of muckrakers Several anti-Flock websites and muckrakers used open records laws to collect and publish hundreds of police agencies’ audit logs – internal records detailing each time an officer searched Flock for a specific tag. — Kenny Jacoby, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Famous American muckrakers include Ida Tarbell who wrote about Standard Oil’s monopoly; Lincoln Steffens who wrote about corruption in city halls; and Upton Sinclair who exposed deplorable conditions in the meatpacking industry. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muckrakers
  1. journalists
  2. reporters
Noun
  • Released in 2025, the first part of Julia Loktev’s monumental documentary project My Undesirable Friends, subtitled Last Air in Moscow, gave us a sprawling, breathless look at a few devastating months in the lives of Russian journalists.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Associated Press journalists waiting at a checkpoint south of the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon saw a convoy of ICRC vehicles heading toward the Naqoura border crossing Friday morning and later return.
    — Fadi Tawil, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of journalists
Noun
  • The referendum campaign has fueled debate about Iceland’s place in the world, Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir told reporters after casting her ballot in ​the capital on Saturday.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Khmara made the remarks at his first briefing with reporters since taking the post on Saturday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of reporters

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Cite this Entry

“Muckrakers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muckrakers. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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