Susan Dent (born November 1964) is an English

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

, etymologist and media personality. She has appeared in "Dictionary Corner" on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

game show '' Countdown'' since 1992. She also appears on ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of '' Countdown'', but presented in a comedy panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', a post- watershed comedy version of the show.

Early life and education

Dent was born in Woking, Surrey. She was educated at the Marist Convent in Ascot, an independent

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

day school, with a term at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

to study for

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

entrance exams. She went on to

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, to read for a BA in modern languages, then to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

to read for a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Upon graduation she spent a year in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

teaching German, until her visa expired and she returned to the UK.

Career

Dent is well known as the resident lexicographer and adjudicator for the letters rounds on

's longest-running game show, '' Countdown''. She began working on ''Countdown'' in 1992 at the insistence of her boss, Simon, at

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(OUP). She had recently switched roles to work on compiling English dictionaries, having previously worked on bilingual dictionaries. At first she declined the ''Countdown'' offer, but her boss explained that her appearance on the show formed part of her OUP employment contract and she agreed to take the role. On each episode, she provides a brief commentary on the origin of a particular word or phrase. Dent is the longest-serving member of the show's current on-screen team, first appearing in 1992; she has since made more than 5,000 appearances. Dent also works on the spin-off show ''

''. Dent appeared as herself in an episode of the BBC sitcom ''

Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom created, written by and starring Lee Mack. It has aired on BBC One since 2006 and is the second-longest-running British sitcom, behind ''Last of the Summer Wine'' (1973–2010). Th ...

''. Dent presented Channel 4 web series ''Susie Dent's Guide to Swearing'', which explored the etymology and history of select English swear words. She has also made an appearance on BBC entertainment show '' Would I Lie to You?''. In 2018, she also appeared on five episodes of the panel show '' Richard Osman's House of Games''. In 2019, Dent launched the gold award podcast, ''Something Rhymes With Purple'', co-hosted with her friend Gyles Brandreth; they have followed this up with their live theatre stage residencies using the same formula as their podcast. In 2023, Dent embarked on a solo tour, ''The Secret Lives of Words''. Dent co-wrote a romantic

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

with Peter Souter, ''Only One Word for Love'', that was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

ahead of

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

in 2025. She has been honorary vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading since 2016, as well as an Honorary Fellow and vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists since 2023. Dent was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to literature and to language.

Published books

From 2003 to 2007, Dent was the author of a series of yearly '' Language Reports'' for the Oxford University Press (OUP). The first was simply titled ''The Language Report'', and this was followed by ''Larpers and Shroomers'' (2004); ''Fanboys and Overdogs'' (2005); ''The Like, Language Report for Real'' (2006); and ''The Language Report: English on the Move 2000–2007'' (2007). The format of this publication was revised for 2008 as an A–Z collection of new and newly resurrected words. It was published in October 2008 as ''Words of the Year'' (). In 2005, the same publisher issued ''Winning Words'' (), and in 2009, ''What Made the Crocodile Cry? 101 questions about the English language'' (). Dent's book about dialects, ''How to Talk Like a Local'' (), was published in March 2010. Her first novel, ''Guilty by Definition'', was published in August 2024.

Personal life

Dent was married to Paul Atkins, a teacher, and has two daughters. They separated in 2021. Dent is an

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

supporter.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Susie 1964 births Living people 21st-century English non-fiction writers Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford British women podcasters English lexicographers English podcasters English television personalities Members of the Order of the British Empire Oxford University Press people People from Woking Princeton University alumni Television personalities from Surrey Women lexicographers Writers from Surrey