cover story

English

Noun

cover story (plural cover stories)

1. (media) A story included in a publication that is highlighted on the front cover.
   • 2020 May 6, “Letters: Open Access”, in Rail, page 48:

     It's ironic that the day before the Prime Minister confirmed the go-ahead for HS2, RAIL 898 hit my doormat with a cover story 'Is reopening the GC a viable alternative to HS2?'

2. (espionage) A fictitious account that is intended to hide one's real motive.
   • 2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 9:

     "This is just a cover story," Clay says to O5-8, not taking his eyes off Marion. "It's a good one, but she's had it worked out in advance."
     "Clay, lose the piece," says the O5.
     Grudgingly, Clay does so.

Translations

story on a publication's front page

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 封面故事 (fēngmiàn gùshì)

• Dutch: omslagartikel n
• Finnish: etusivun juttu
• French: gros titre (fr) m
• German: Titelgeschichte f, Coverstory f
• Portuguese: manchete (pt) f
• Russian: те́ма но́мера f (téma nómera), гла́вная статья́ f (glávnaja statʹjá), загла́вная исто́рия f (zaglávnaja istórija)
• Spanish: primera plana f

fictitious account

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 託詞／托词 (zh) (tuōcí)

• Finnish: peitetarina
• French: couverture (fr) f
• German: Legende (de) f
• Portuguese: história para encobrir
• Russian: прикры́тие (ru) n (prikrýtije), леге́нда (ru) f (legénda)
• Spanish: tapadera (es) f

References

• “cover story”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.