gossip
Americannoun
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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
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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)
verb (used with object)
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Chiefly British Dialect. to stand godparent to.
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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
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have gossipedperfect
-
have gossippedperfect
-
has gossipedperfect
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has gossippedperfect
-
am gossipingprogressive
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am gossippingprogressive
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are gossipingprogressive
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are gossippingprogressive
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is gossipingprogressive
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is gossippingprogressive
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have been gossipingperfect progressive
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have been gossippingperfect progressive
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has been gossipingperfect progressive
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has been gossippingperfect progressive
Past
-
gossipedsimple
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gossippedsimple
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had gossipedperfect
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had gossippedperfect
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was gossipingprogressive
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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:
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
More than a decade ago, a local data nerd was able to obtain taxi commission data and cross-reference it with photos on celebrity gossip blogs to purportedly show that some celebrities didn’t tip their drivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
There was something calming and oceanic about the rhythm of rolls and cracks around her, blending with the ambient murmur of banter and gossip into white noise.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
From the late 16th Century, armies of scribes, agents and secretaries compiled akhbarat - brief news reports on court intrigue, military campaigns, appointments, finances and gossip.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
“I beg your pardon. Lady Constance must have mentioned it to me in passing. You know how she likes to gossip about the servants.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
The chapters fly at the reader in column-length bursts, and the perspective bops about from that of our heroine to neighborhood gossips, savvy editors and that unforgettable mother-in-law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
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
Rosenblum snaps back to the beginning of the summer, where she lays out her rogues’ gallery of gossips, hypocrites, cheaters.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
Everybody gossips and everybody gets up to things.
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2023
She’s the one person in town who never gossips or says bad things about people.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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
Some are afraid that if they reveal too much they could be gossiped about.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024
Right now, they gossiped as in any other break room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
The parade of villagers laughed and gossiped out of the village and along the Old North Road.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
"The substance of the Criticisms on the Diversions of Purley was, with singular industry, gossipped by the present precious secretary of war, in Payne the bookseller's shop."
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
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 Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
"Thou tellest him now dead," said Geirmund, "with whom we have gossipped this morning."
From The story of Burnt Njal From the Icelandic of the Njals Saga by Dasent, George Webbe
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
I run on like this, because you say you like to be gossipped to; and I am just a little lonely here—sometimes.
From Elizabeth's Campaign by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
I briefly joined a book club of some work colleagues when I was teaching in rural Illinois, and it was fun, but most of our time was spent gossiping about, well, work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 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
The other girls lazily sloshed clothes around, giggling and gossiping, but today Naima didn’t stop to chat.
From "Rickshaw Girl" by Mitali Perkins
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
I’m not their maid, and she had no business to stand here gossipping about Miss Nevins.
From The Girls at Mount Morris by Douglas, Amanda Minnie
His acquaintances, laughing and gossipping round the half-empty wine-glasses, the olives, the scattered fruit, and "the ashes of the weeds of their delight," gave themselves no concern about the weary host.
From The Mark Of Cain by Lang, Andrew
"Fresh, lively, gay, and gossipping, these 'Fun Jottings' deservedly merit the enduring garb in which they appear."
From Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854) by Griffiths, Julia
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.
