What does centerfold mean?
A centerfold is a photograph — most often a full-page portrait of an attractive or scantily clad model — printed on a single large sheet that folds into the middle of a magazine so it can be pulled out or opened as an oversized spread. Because the picture occupies the exact center of the publication, the word also came to refer to the person pictured: to be "a centerfold" is to have posed for one. The term rose to prominence in mid-twentieth-century American publishing, becoming strongly associated with men's magazines such as Playboy, whose monthly centerfolds were famous enough to make models household names. Today the word is used informally, often with playful or slightly risqué connotations, and it survives as a piece of media vocabulary even as print magazines decline. It remains a useful term for discussing publishing formats, popular culture, and the visual language of twentieth-century print media.
nounA large photograph or illustration, typically of an attractive person, printed so that it unfolds across the center of a magazine; by extension, the person featured in such a photograph.
- A photograph or picture printed on pages that open out to fill the center spread of a magazine.
- The person featured in such a photograph, especially a glamorous or nude model.
"She became the magazine's most famous centerfold of the decade."
"The issue's centerfold was photographed on location in the Caribbean."
"He jokingly said his ambition in life was to become a centerfold."
Regular plural; used both for multiple photographs and for the people featured in them.
"The archive contains hundreds of vintage centerfolds."
The word "centerfold" didn't exist before glossy magazines began printing photos that literally unfolded from the spine — and one magazine made it a cultural icon.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of centerfold
Centerfold is a compound of "center" (from Latin "centrum," ultimately from Greek "kentron," meaning sharp point) and "fold" (from Old English "fealdan," to fold). The word arose in American English in the mid-twentieth century to describe photographs bound into the central pages of a magazine in a way that allowed them to open out flat. Its rise closely tracks the growth of illustrated glossy magazines after World War II. The British variant spelling "centrefold" reflects standard British spelling of words ending in -er/-re patterns.
How centerfold is actually used
Informal register with strong association with men's glamour magazines, especially Playboy. The word can carry a mildly titillating connotation, so it is best avoided in formal contexts except when discussing media history. In British English the spelling is usually "centrefold."
Easily confused with centerfold
"Centrefold" is simply the British spelling of the same word, not a different meaning.