gossip
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Idle talk about someone's private or personal matters.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gahsuhpSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɑsəp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others
uncountable
Idle talk about someone's private or personal matters, especially about someone not present.
countable
Someone who likes to talk about other people's private or personal business.
A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people
uncountable
Idle conversation in general.
uncountable
A genre in contemporary media, usually focused on the personal affairs of celebrities.
verb
intransitive
To talk about someone else's private or personal business, especially in a manner that spreads the information.
Talk socially without exchanging too much information
intransitive
To talk idly.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others
Used this way, gossip is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- scuttlebutt , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use gossip
- “Please try not to spread gossip; it can hurt people's feelings.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.