quidnunc

[ kwid-nuhngk ]
See synonyms for quidnunc on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip; a gossip or busybody.

Origin of quidnunc

1
First recorded in 1700–10, quidnunc is from Latin quid nunc “what now?”

Words Nearby quidnunc

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use quidnunc in a sentence

  • quidnunc, kwid′nungk, n. one always on the lookout for news: one who pretends to know all occurrences.

  • The rest can wait until you tell me what new quidnunc tale was invented to lure you here.

    Peggy Owen at Yorktown | Lucy Foster Madison
  • He even becomes a quidnunc, prying now and then into the personal affairs of his superiors.

    The Book of Khalid | Ameen Rihani
  • Beside the quidnunc and the party politician, another class of reader now appeared demanding aliment in the press.

    Addison | William John Courthope
  • This was concerned with a famous personage whom all knowing London (though I for one had not known it) called quidnunc.

    Lore of Proserpine | Maurice Hewlett

British Dictionary definitions for quidnunc

quidnunc

/ (ˈkwɪdˌnʌŋk) /


noun
  1. a person eager to learn news and scandal; gossipmonger

Origin of quidnunc

1
C18: from Latin, literally: what now

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012