gossip
Americannoun
-
gossip
plural
-
idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others.
the endless gossip about Hollywood stars.
- Synonyms:
- chitchat, palaver, hearsay, small talk
-
light, familiar talk or writing.
-
Also gossiper, gossipper. a person given to tattling or idle talk.
- Synonyms:
- rumormonger, chatterer
-
Chiefly British Dialect. a godparent.
-
Archaic. a friend, especially a woman.
verb (used without object)
-
gossips,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gossiped,
past participle, past
-
gossipped,
past participle, past
-
gossiping,
present participle
-
gossipping
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
gossips,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gossiped,
past participle, past
-
gossipped,
past participle, past
-
gossiping,
present participle
-
gossipping
present participle
-
Chiefly British Dialect. to stand godparent to.
-
Archaic. to repeat like a gossip.
noun
-
casual and idle chat
to have a gossip with a friend
-
a conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people
a gossip about the neighbours
-
Also called: gossipmonger. a person who habitually talks about others, esp maliciously
-
light easy communication
to write a letter full of gossip
-
archaic a close woman friend
verb
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
gossipernoun
-
gossipingnoun
-
intergossipverb
-
gossipyadjective
-
ungossipingadjective
-
gossipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gossipsimple
-
gossipssimple
-
have gossipedperfect
-
have gossippedperfect
-
has gossipedperfect
-
has gossippedperfect
-
am gossipingprogressive
-
am gossippingprogressive
-
are gossipingprogressive
-
are gossippingprogressive
-
is gossipingprogressive
-
is gossippingprogressive
-
have been gossipingperfect progressive
-
have been gossippingperfect progressive
-
has been gossipingperfect progressive
-
has been gossippingperfect progressive
Past
-
gossipedsimple
-
gossippedsimple
-
had gossipedperfect
-
had gossippedperfect
-
was gossipingprogressive
-
was gossippingprogressive
-
were gossipingprogressive
-
were gossippingprogressive
-
had been gossipingperfect progressive
-
had been gossippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gossip
First recorded before 1050; Middle English gossib, godsib(be), Old English godsibb, originally “godparent,” equivalent to god + sibb “related”; see origin at god, sib
Explanation
Gossip is conversation that's light, informal, and usually about other people's business. It can be fun to gossip about others, but no one likes it when they're the subject of gossip. You can find people just about anywhere who love to chatter about the latest rumors and stories: they're gossips who love to gossip. You've probably seen all the celebrity gossip featured in the tabloids: stories about who's dating, marrying, divorcing, or having a baby. But don't trust everything you hear — gossip isn't always accurate, and often people spread untrue gossip just to mess with someone they don't like.
Vocabulary lists containing gossip
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Simply Scandalous!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Sula
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Many of you have reached out with concern for Perez, and we are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support, and prayers,” the statement issued via Hilton’s online gossip site read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
This piece of gossip soon begins to cloud Elliot’s life and better judgement.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
Clement’s lawyer said in a statement that the report found against her “on the pretext of ‘perception,’ the source of which was rumour, gossip and innuendo.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
But there is little in the public record to document this, other than items in the gossip pages about their golf bouts.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
She longed to know the green squirrel-like ratatoskas and gradually came to be on speaking terms with them, listening to their gossip.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Then gossips chattered that a huge “bear raid,” or manipulation of stocks by short sellers, would be launched the following morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Tisa’s reenactments, commentary, and energy earned her a comment from a viewer who dubbed her “the new and improved Wendy Williams,” signaling a changing future for even legacy gossips and talk show hosts.
From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2025
Williams has long understood why people love gossip and equally adore and abhor gossips: they cause controversy, and sometimes force a public, corrective response.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2024
As Charlotte furiously informs her early on, the town gossips refer to Emily as “the Strange One.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
Nobody gossips about whether you have the flu or not.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
Because the home has been staged, buyers won’t be able to sit at the very kitchen table where the Kardashian clan gossiped over salads, or the poolside lounges where they often sunned themselves.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
As spectators filed through security screening then streamed into the courtroom, they gossiped as key players strode by as though in a stage play, including Dick Harpootlian, the lead defense lawyer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Its bar was popular with politicians, security officers and civil servants who gossiped as they sipped their beer after work.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2024
Right now, they gossiped as in any other break room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
White men and women drank, chain-smoked, munched pretzels and other eatables, gossiped eagerly and played darts.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Sherwood Branciforte hunted out Andy Green where he lay at ease with head and shoulders propped against a wheel of the bed-wagon and gossipped with Pink and a few others.
From The Happy Family by B. M. Bower
In the forepart of the oven, on either hand, stood a variety of pots and pipkins, and gossipped together in their several tones.
From Yiddish Tales by Various
The old Frenchwoman gossipped and wondered about her; but the most speculative could fashion no story from a page so blank as this joyless existence.
From Charlotte's Inheritance by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
If I succeed in my object I shall consider that I have gossipped to some purpose.
From Flowers and Flower-Gardens With an Appendix of Practical Instructions and Useful Information Respecting the Anglo-Indian Flower-Garden by David Lester Richardson
The hum of several thousand voices, as the gathered people gossipped about the image, made quite a volume of sound.
From The Mark of the Beast by Sidney Watson
There is no reality in which gossiping about someone’s weight loss, especially on social media, is a way toward helping or healing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
She stayed up until 03:00 gossiping with other women in her room.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
I felt like he was gossiping about me to a lot of people, and during one review, it became clear that he was.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026
The time guys normally spend learning in GED or college classes, or socializing and building community in prisoner-run workshops, is now wasted inside their cells gossiping and scheming.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025
“I have to say that finding you two ladies gossiping in the garden when I got home was not what I expected.”
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
Robinson and Frances Glandney, who married in 2002, were part of a group of longtime pals and she knew they’d start gossipping about her and the legendary singer-songwriter.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
Of what do you suppose he would have informed us, had he indulged this bibliographical gossipping?
From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Thomas Frognall Dibdin
The evenings of the Sabbath are passed in little gossipping circles in some of the cabins, or beneath the shade of some tree in front of their dwellings, or at weddings.
From The South-West By a Yankee. In Two Volumes. Volume 2 by Jonathon Holt Ingraham
I love this sort of gossipping during breakfast, of all things.
From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Thomas Frognall Dibdin
His friendships are a kind of gossipping friendships, and those commonly within the circle of his trade, wherein he is careful principally to avoid two things, that is poor men and suretiships.
From Microcosmography or, a Piece of the World Discovered; in Essays and Characters by John Earle
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
