gossip

1 of 2

noun

gos·​sip ˈgä-səp 

1

a

dialectal British : godparent

b

: companion, crony

c

: a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others

the worst gossip in town

2

a

: rumor or report of an intimate nature

spreading gossip about their divorce

b

: a chatty talk

c

: the subject matter of gossip

Their breakup was common gossip.

gossipry

ˈgä-sə-prē 

noun

gossip

2 of 2

verb

gossiped; gossiping; gossips

intransitive verb

: to relate gossip (see gossip entry 1 sense 2a)

gossiper noun

Did you know?

Old English sibb, meaning “relative” or “kinsman,” came from the adjective sibb, “related by blood” (the ancestor of modern English sibling). Old English godsibb was a person spiritually related to another, specifically by being a sponsor at baptism. Today we call such a person a godparent. Over the centuries, godsibb changed both in form and in meaning. Middle English gossib came to be used for a close friend or crony as well as for a godparent. From there it was only a short step to the gossip of today, a person no longer necessarily friend, relative, or sponsor, but someone filled with irresistible tidbits of rumor.

Synonyms

Noun

• circulator
• gossiper
• gossipmonger
• newsmonger
• quidnunc
• talebearer
• tale-teller
• telltale
• yenta

Verb

• blab
• dish
• talk
• tattle
• wag

Examples of gossip in a Sentence

Noun

He had been spreading gossip about his coworkers.

the latest news and gossip from the entertainment industry

She writes a gossip column in the paper.

I like having a good gossip now and then.

Verb

They spent the afternoon gossiping on the phone.

They often gossip with each other about their neighbors.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Like the unnamed narrator who finds Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter in the Salem Custom House and then sets about telling her tale, Banks’s narrators are anonymous busybodies and town gossips, nosy neighbors or observers once removed from the action. —Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2024

Randomness governs lots of processes in the world, from stock markets, to internet gossip, to the spread of disease and the activity of bacteria in a Petri dish. —Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English gossib, from Old English godsibb, from god god + sibb kinsman, from sibb related — more at sib

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1627, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

gossip

noun

gos·​sip

ˈgäs-əp

1

: a person who reveals personal or sensational facts

2

a

: rumor or report of a personal nature

b

: chatty talk

gossip verb

gossiper noun

gossipy

-ə-pē

adjective