deaditor

English

Etymology

Blend of dead +‎ editor, from being an editor who contributes about the recently dead.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.ɾɪ.ɾɚ/, /ˈdɛ.ɾə.ɾɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛd.ɪ.tə/

Noun

deaditor (plural deaditors)

1. (Internet slang) A person who edits information related to a recent death, especially on biographical pages on wikis such as Wikipedia.
   • 2018 June 15, Hay Kranen, “The 'deaditors' of Wikipedia”, in HayKranen.nl‎^[1]:

     For those 26 articles there were 26 different deaditors. And what was surprising: two-thirds of those edits were done by anonymous users.

   • 2018 August 16, Stephen Harrison, “Who Updates Celebrity Deaths on Wikipedia?”, in Slate‎^[2]:

     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.

   • 2022 September 9, Jody Serrano, “How Wikipedia's 'Deaditors' Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II's Page After Her Death”, in Gizmodo‎^[3]:

     How Wikipedia's 'Deaditors' Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II's Page After Her Death [title]

   • [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^[4]:

     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.]