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
-
has gossippedperfect
-
am gossipingprogressive
-
am gossippingprogressive
-
are gossipingprogressive
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are gossippingprogressive
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is gossipingprogressive
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is gossippingprogressive
-
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:
The website became known as a pop culture hub, where readers could indulge in the latest celebrity gossip or discover a unique cooking recipe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
If gossip and snark is what you’re after, try Lena Dunham’s episode where she talks about an awkward meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook and quitting vaping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 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
Swifties and their ideological opposites have both been Monday-morning quarterbacking last weekend’s shindig, accepting even the weirdest bad-faith gossip without question.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Mama’s not one for listening to gossip, but that’s the only way I know what’s going on.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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
Capitol Hill gossips, including journalists from whom one might have hoped to hear something before now, evidently knew about Mr. Swalwell’s behavior for years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 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
Everybody gossips and everybody gets up to things.
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2023
People moved in the corners of Cora’s vision: shadows of gossips and scolds.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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
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
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
And it was true, she never, ever gossiped about someone else’s secret.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Had I driven in from Charleville alone I might have gossipped with all the idlers of the village, but now that I am walking with a "Boycotted" person I seem to have become invisible.
From Disturbed Ireland Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81. by Becker, Bernard H.
"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
The town gossipped itself nearly crazy, but without any satisfactory result.
From Garman and Worse A Norwegian Novel by Kielland, Alexander Lange
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 Watson, Sidney
You may tell her that I came here and gossipped against her, if you like.
From The Irrational Knot Being the Second Novel of His Nonage by Shaw, Bernard
She stayed up until 03:00 gossiping with other women in her room.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
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
Laila suspected that some, if not most, of the neighbors were already gossiping about her and Tariq.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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
It would be necessary to keep Roberts from gossipping, and for that reason it was policy to discount the importance of his information.
From The Grell Mystery by Froest, Frank
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
I love this sort of gossipping during breakfast, of all things.
From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall
Mr Jones, his curate, has confirmed this statement, although the gossipping and heartless tone of his letters about such a man cannot be too strongly condemned.
From Young's Night Thoughts With Life, Critical Dissertation and Explanatory Notes by Young, Edward
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.
