Dictionary

deaditor en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɛ.dɪ.dɚ/ (General-American)
• /ˈdɛ.də.dɚ/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈdɛd.ɪ.tə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Blend of dead + editor.

Meanings

1. (Internet) A person who edits information related to a recent death, especially on biographical pages on wikis such as Wikipedia.
   • The editor who broke the news, Sydwhunte, remains anonymous. Indeed, after adding in the death note, they barely made another edit. The community calls such accounts Deaditors or WikiJackals – people who seem to prize being the first to announce a death. [2022 September 13, Liam Mannix, “Evidence suggests Wikipedia is accurate and reliable. When are we going to start taking it seriously?”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:
   • Since two-thirds of these deaditors were anonymous, it seemed unlikely that I would ever track them down. But I tried to find some of the remaining one-third. 2018 August 16, Stephen Harrison, “Who Updates Celebrity Deaths on Wikipedia?”, in Slate:
   • For those 26 articles there were 26 different deaditors. And what was surprising: two-thirds of those edits were done by anonymous users. 2018 June 15, Hay Kranen, “The 'deaditors' of Wikipedia”, in HayKranen.nl:
   • How Wikipedia's 'Deaditors' Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II's Page After Her Death [title] 2022 September 9, Jody Serrano, “How Wikipedia's 'Deaditors' Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II's Page After Her Death”, in Gizmodo:

Forms