gossip
Americannoun
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gossip
plural
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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.
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Also gossiper, gossipper. a person given to tattling or idle talk.
- Synonyms:
- rumormonger, chatterer
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Chiefly British Dialect. a godparent.
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Archaic. a friend, especially a woman.
verb (used without object)
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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
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casual and idle chat
to have a gossip with a friend
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a conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people
a gossip about the neighbours
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Also called: gossipmonger. a person who habitually talks about others, esp maliciously
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light easy communication
to write a letter full of gossip
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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
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gossipernoun
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gossipingnoun
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intergossipverb
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gossipyadjective
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ungossipingadjective
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gossipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gossipsimple
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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
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have been gossippingperfect progressive
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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
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Simply Scandalous!
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Sula
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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:
After three orderly decades as a journalist and gossip columnist, Jeannette Walls delivered a shock to readers with this account of her chaotic upbringing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
I love that you validate gossip as part of the excavation process for making sure you’re having the right fight with the right information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
People with well-recognised Cuban-American surnames – like Bacardi and Babun – chat around the pool about the lamentable state of the island's economy, and share titbits of gossip about the latest political rumblings.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
As Dobbins put it, the event was recapped on both celebrity gossip site “DeuxMoi and LinkedIn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Camille and Breanna and a few other girls take selfies and gossip.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Not much is said about the other rude remark at school, or the evident fact that all the parents—dads and moms alike—are a gang of gossips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Much of the chatter never moves past a relatively small, dishy circle of political gossips because the supposed misdeeds, while titillating, can’t stand up to rigorous scrutiny.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 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
My face burns with rage; I run away from the gossips.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
As attendees roamed the corridors of the suburban Dallas resort and gossiped over drinks in the faux-adobe sports bar, there was no sense of a coming contest.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2026
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
Busy markets sold butchered meats and fast-wilting vegetables, horse carts clattered, children shouted, and men and women gossiped in coffeehouses and read from printed newspapers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
During his childhood, Almodóvar sometimes sat and listened under the kitchen table while his mother and other women gossiped and shared secrets, Moore says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024
They mosdy sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
It was gossipped that he was expected to write Turner's biography—"five years' work for you," says the old man, full of plans for gathering material.
From The Life of John Ruskin by W. G. (William Gershom) Collingwood
M.P.’s gossipped in the lobby—or dined—or smoked—or drank brandy-and-water—in short, did anything but listen to Mr. Wilson; and yet this was a grave, serious government measure.
From Here and There in London by J. Ewing (James Ewing) Ritchie
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
First of all, your love affair is being gossipped about; secondly, this gossip has indirectly brought your lover into serious danger.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 07 — Fiction by Arthur Mee
And Jessie, being new to the fashionable world, shrank from having her heart-history gossipped about.
From Jessamine A Novel by Marion Harland
“It’s like, ‘We don’t want to hear from you when we’re gossiping about you,’” said social media consultant Rachel Karten, author of the Link in Bio newsletter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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
After being rejected, Venessa, also then in her mid-twenties, sent Jay a series of "angry and accusatory" messages, saying he was gossiping about her.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
It was late that night when Katherine and Jimmy tucked the girls into their beds and collapsed onto their own bed, but they stayed up even later laughing and gossiping, recapping the family gathering.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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
I wonder at their present patience and perseverance, and can never sufficiently admire the contexture of that brain which can weave with unwearied toil such immense webs of idle tittle-tattle, and gossipping nonsense.
From Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela (1754) by Anonymous
These rumors were started by the Dubarry servants, in their gossipping with other family servants in the chance meeting in church or village.
From Cruel As The Grave by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
Can all the talking and the gossipping in the world, make us one jot more happy or one jot more wretched?
From L'Arrabiata and Other Tales by Paul Heyse
A kiss, at a dance, was all they could say in their gossipping, but he had kissed Annette, and she was by no means the flower of his heart.
From The Ice-Maiden: and Other Tales. by Fanny Fuller
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