talebearer

American  

[teyl-bair-er] / ˈteɪlˌbɛər ər /

noun

1. a person who spreads gossip, secrets, etc., that may cause trouble or harm.

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Other Word Forms

• talebearing adjective

Etymology

Origin of talebearer

First recorded in 1470–80; tale + bearer

Example Sentences

“A talebearer revealeth secrets,” says Proverbs in an early complaint, “but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.”

From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2019

Its talebearer is gaunt, ghost-grey Dr. Hereward Carrington, director of the American Psychical Institute, an oldtime spook-hunter who likes to spend his vacations in haunted houses.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unpredictably clever, obscurely erudite, obstinately elusive about answering his own questions, Sloan could be the Comrade V. of novelists: the talebearer as dehumanized intellect.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fred R. Pfister Branson, Mo. Talking about the lives of other people direct�judgment away from the talebearer while he is enjoying personal participation.

From Time Magazine Archive

The spoiled child, the censorious talebearer, the callow, conceited youth must be wrought upon by the beat and play of human life.

From Five Young Men Messages of Yesterday for the Young Men of To-day by Brown, Charles Reynolds