gossipry

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gos·sip

(gŏs′əp)

1. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature.

2. A person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts.

3. Trivial, chatty talk or writing.

4. A close friend or companion.

5. Chiefly British A godparent.

intr.v. gos·siped, gos·sip·ing, gos·sips

To engage in or spread gossip: gossiped about the neighbors.

[Middle English godsib, gossip, godparent, from Old English godsibb : god, god; see god + sibb, kinsman; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]

gos′sip·er n.

gos′sip·ry n.

gos′sip·y adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gossipry

(ˈɡɒsɪprɪ)

idle talk

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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gossipry

noun

Idle, often sensational and groundless talk about others:

gossip, hearsay, report, rumor, talebearing, tattle, tittle-tattle, word.

Slang: scuttlebutt.

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References in periodicals archive ?

The "Declaration of Intent by Jurisprudence to Curb Gossipry" told offenders they had been reported for "fearful unwarranted malicious blathering" and if they failed to "button it" they faced time in the Scold's Bridle.

Scold comfort for idle gossipers; Bizarre punishment meted out to poor souls with a wagging tongue

'Remember', she wrote to Harriet Carr, 'every little, leetle, particular about yourself, and your concerns, and gossipry, and scandal, are most welcome to me [...] down to the uninteresting in general basons of tapioca you have at lunch.' Chapple does not quite get to the tapioca, but he comes pretty close.