word-of-mouth

1 of 2

adjective

ˌwərd-ə(v)-ˈmau̇th 

: orally communicated

also : generated from or reliant on oral publicity

word-of-mouth customers

a word-of-mouth business

word of mouth

2 of 2

noun phrase

: oral communication

especially : oral often inadvertent publicity

Synonyms of word-of-mouth

Adjective

• oral
• verbal

Examples of word-of-mouth in a Sentence

Adjective

not having the money to run ads, the restaurant relies on word-of-mouth publicity

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Podcast discovery has undergone a significant transformation, moving beyond traditional apps and word-of-mouth. — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Today, Nguyen organizes a network of nearly 400 teenagers through a Discord server, which gained traction through library fliers and word-of-mouth from teens elected to the Chinatown Teen Council. — Melody Xu, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026

Noun phrase

Since its debut, Ride or Die has delivered strong viewership largely via word of mouth as the series did not have the same wide marketing campaign as Prime Video’s summer YA slate. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2026

Strong audience scores and enthusiastic word of mouth turned Thursday previews into one of the biggest preview nights in movie history. — David Deal, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1817, in the meaning defined above

Noun Phrase

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

word of mouth

: spoken communication