Dictionary

paparazza en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌpæ.pəˈɹæ.tsə/ (UK)
• pă'pə-răʹtsə (US)
• pă'pə-răʹtsə (UK)
• /ˌpɑ.pəˈɹɑ.tsə/ (US)

Etymology

From Italian paparazza, changed from paparazzo to reflect feminine gender (both actual and grammatical), as is morphologically standard in Italian.

Meanings

1. A female paparazzo.
   • “Have we a delegate of the press? La paparazza, in hot pursuit? Or ambush … Oh, my dear girl, nasty scratch.” 1998, Kai Maristed, Belong to Me: Stories, Random House, →ISBN, page 67:
   • “How’s my favorite paparazza?” Stan said, grabbing me around the waist in an embrace that threatened to squash my cameras between us. 1996 June, Judy Collins, Shameless: A Novel, Pocket Star Books, →ISBN, page 116:
   • Thus at the moment when Joyce is most transparent, when he is most evidently the modernist alienated artist as flâneur, he is also most the star, the object of the paparazza’s intrusive camera. 1996 December, Kevin J. H. Dettmar, Stephen Watt, Marketing Modernisms: Self-promotion, Canonization, Rereading, University of Michigan Press, page 146:
   • “Keeping her away from us will only rouse her interest all the more,” Zarah stated flatly. “Especially if she turns out to be a journalist or a paparazza. Worse yet, who knows? She could even be a spy working for our competitors.” 1992, Judith Gould, Forever, Dutton, →ISBN, page 208:
   • Eventually the harried waitress turns paparazza and drives them out with flashbulbs. 1991, Barry Brummett, Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture, University of Alabama Press, →ISBN, page 122:
   • Bain wouldn’t return her calls but she knew where he worked. She was not a paparazza but stories were made, not given. Even dead stories could be used to dig around. 2003, Matthew Lee, Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts, a Story of Subprime Finance — with a non-fiction advocates’ afterword, Inner City Press, →ISBN, page 199:
   • ^({1}) This Sophie he often talks to her about, who helps support her old sick parents so nobly and has just won a big prize for her writing, how did she go about finding herself as a paparazza? ^({2}) […] she might eventually interview Henry Miller there; she could begin her career as a paparazza that way… 1981, Francine du Plessix Gray, World Without End: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 149^({1}) & 150^({2}):
   • “I think that would be paparazza,” Maggie corrected. “Singular, feminine. But you say that as if it’s a religious cult or something.” 2005, Roz Bailey, Girls’ Night Out, Kensington Publishing Corporation, →ISBN, page 23:
   • I know, I’m only a paparazza scum, but the newspaper’s lawyers insist I’m paparazza scum with constitutional rights […] 2006, Robert Eversz, Zero to the Bone: A Nina Zero Novel, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 171:
   • “When did your brother die?” “A month ago.” Well, that explained Valiotaky’s appearance. It was taboo for him to wash his clothes or shave until his brother was buried. But even with the backing of Tsiaketraky, the Father-and-Mother, I was troubled. Was I really going to be a horrible paparazza, intruding on a family of strangers in their mourning? 2004, Alison Jolly, Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings with Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 255:

Forms

Synonyms

mamarazzi