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View synonyms for

gossip

[ gos-uhp ]

noun

  1. idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others:

    the endless gossip about Hollywood stars.

    Synonyms: , , ,

  2. light, familiar talk or writing.
  3. Also gossiper, gossipper. a person given to tattling or idle talk.

    Synonyms: ,

  4. Chiefly British Dialect. a godparent.
  5. Archaic. a friend, especially a woman.


verb (used without object)

gossiped or gossipped, gossiping or gossipping.
  1. to talk idly, especially about the affairs of others; go about tattling.

    Synonyms: , , ,

verb (used with object)

gossiped or gossipped, gossiping or gossipping.
  1. Chiefly British Dialect. to stand godparent to.
  2. Archaic. to repeat like a gossip.

gossip

/ ˈɡɒɪ /

noun

  1. casual and idle chat

    to have a gossip with a friend

  2. a conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people

    a gossip about the neighbours

  3. Also calledgossipmonger a person who habitually talks about others, esp maliciously
  4. light easy communication

    to write a letter full of gossip

  5. archaic.
    a close woman friend
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. introften foll byabout to talk casually or maliciously (about other people)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈDz辱Բ, adverb
  • ˈDz辱Բ, nounadjective
  • ˈDz, adjective
  • ˈDz, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • Dz··Բ· adverb
  • ·ٱ·Dz· verb intergossiped or intergossipped intergossiping or intergossipping
  • ܲ·Dz··Բ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of gossip1

First recorded before 1050; Middle English gossib, godsib(be), Old English godsibb, originally “godparent,” equivalent to god + sibb “rٱ”; god, sib
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Word History and Origins

Origin of gossip1

Old English godsibb godparent, from god + sib ; the term came to be applied to familiar friends, esp a woman's female friends at the birth of a child, hence a person, esp a woman, fond of light talk
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Synonym Study

Gossip, scandal apply to idle talk and newsmongering about the affairs of others. Gossip is light chat or talk: to trade gossip about the neighbors. Scandal is rumor or general talk that is damaging to reputation; it is usually more or less malicious: The town never lived down the election scandal.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She changed the subject and wanted to talk about neighborhood gossip instead.

From

Up until the gossip podcast launched, Lilly had been open about her life online.

From

Burns’ cyclical, sardonic prose underscores the unnamed narrator’s defenselessness against neighborhood gossip that marks the Milkman’s unwanted attentions as consensual.

From

"The problem is that people are much more interested in the royal gossip than they are in learning how to make a jam."

From

"He knew so much about me, from police station gossip: where I was, where I was going, who I was seeing. He knew everything about me."

From

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Gossegossipmonger