penny-a-liner

[ pen-ee-uh-lahy-ner ]

noun

, Chiefly British Archaic.

1. a hack writer.

penny-a-liner

noun

1. rare.
   a hack writer or journalist

Word History and Origins

Origin of penny-a-liner¹

1825–35; penny-a-line (of writing) paid for at the rate of a penny per line + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Yet almost all the literary success he attained was due to a patient toil which would have wearied out a penny-a-liner, and a laborious self-study and self-culture which might have overtaxed the nerves of a Königsberg professor.

From Project Gutenberg

Of course no such scene ever occurred, but it suited the purpose of some penny-a-liner, who probably was in want of a dinner, and must concoct "a sensation" for his journal.

From Project Gutenberg

So that a philosopher may say we as well as a monarch or a penny-a-liner.

From Project Gutenberg

I would be no true German if I wrote of Faust without giving expression to some explanatory thoughts concerning it, for from the greatest thinker down to the most insignificant penny-a-liner, from philosophers down to professors of philosophy, every one tries his wit on this book.

From Project Gutenberg

Mademoiselle loved this sort, slightly out of fashion; Segrais has preserved an agreeable reminiscence of a summer's evening passed in the forest, with the natural background of high trees, listening to an ancient "Amaryllis" repolished and arranged for the stage by some penny-a-liner.

From Project Gutenberg