tittle-tattle
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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tittle-tattles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tittle-tattled,
past participle, past
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tittle-tattling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tittle-tattlesimple
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tittle-tattlessimple
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have tittle-tattledperfect
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has tittle-tattledperfect
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am tittle-tattlingprogressive
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are tittle-tattlingprogressive
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is tittle-tattlingprogressive
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have been tittle-tattlingperfect progressive
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has been tittle-tattlingperfect progressive
Past
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tittle-tattledsimple
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had tittle-tattledperfect
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was tittle-tattlingprogressive
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were tittle-tattlingprogressive
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had been tittle-tattlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tittle-tattle
First recorded in 1520–30; gradational compound based on tittle to whisper, gossip
Explanation
School children often engage in tittle-tattle about their classmates, sharing rumors and gossip while socializing during lunch and recess. Tittle-tattle refers to light gossip or idle chatter. It can be used as a noun to describe the content of the gossip, and it can be used as a verb to describe the act of engaging in it. While usually harmless, too much tittle-tattle can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or the spread of minor rumors.
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:
Prosecutor Andrew Scott said the detective had accessed logs involving "a relatively minor complaint" and "tittle-tattle" relating to her male friend, which was being dealt with by uniformed officers.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
President Putin recently dismissed the suggestion as "utter nonsense, drivel and politically-motivated tittle-tattle."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2021
Actual football looks unlikely for a little while so, in the meantime, lose yourself in the underworld of meaningless tittle-tattle:
From The Guardian ● Mar. 13, 2020
His weekly, Next, which began as a print magazine but now has only a digital edition, writes a lot about celebrities and covers local tittle-tattle, but also provides unstinting support for the protests.
From New York Times ● Aug. 23, 2019
I couldn’t afford to be the topic of neighborhood tittle-tattle.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
He will not take part in these little tittle-tattles.
From Miss Mapp by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson
You can, well, cork the mouths of a thousand bottles, But not that of one that always tittle-tattles.
From Truth and the Myth : Couplets quips by A. R. Narayanan
Them as tittle-tattles about dead folks needn't look to lie quiet theirselves in their graves.
From Marcella by Mrs. Humphry Ward
But just now there are also tittle-tattles in the hall.
From Dorothy Dale in the City by Margaret Penrose
Delacroix painted in Nohant's garden studio, and such famous guests as Balzac, Theophile Gautier and Alfred de Vigny argued and tittle-tattled in its drawing room.
From Time Magazine Archive
At least she on more than one occasion tittle-tattled about her.
From Lady Mary Wortley Montague Her Life and Letters (1689-1762) by Lewis Melville
While visiting Bonn with the President in July, he appeared with a new German friend in a manner so cozy that it immediately made the Washington Star's tittle-tattling "Ear" column.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was no card playing, "quarreling with or whipping wives . . . tittle-tattling ... or running about."
From Time Magazine Archive
While you've been tittle-tattling I've been doing,—listen to what this bobby's got to say.'
From The Beetle by Richard Marsh
And I remember that once she had been tittle-tattling as usual, and had said something more indefensible than usual of her benefactress, when looking up suddenly we found Miss Champion in the room.
From The Story of Bawn by Katharine Tynan
Mr Cargrim, by his late tittle-tattling conversation, had fallen in her good opinion; and she was not going to let him off without a sharp rebuke for his unfounded chatter.
From The Bishop's Secret by Fergus Hume
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.
