Hearsay

//ˈhɪəseɪ// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Information that was heard by one person about another that cannot be adequately substantiated. uncountable, usually

    "based on hearsay"

  2. 2
    gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth wordnet
  3. 3
    Evidence based on the reports of others, which is normally inadmissible because it was not made under oath, rather than on personal knowledge. uncountable, usually

    "dismiss hearsay"

  4. 4
    An out-of-court statement offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted (or the in-court testimony which recites such a statement), which is normally inadmissible (because it is not subject to cross-examination) unless it falls under one of a number of exceptions. uncountable, usually
Adjective
  1. 1
    heard through another rather than directly wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
rumorcommon talkgossipreportrumorabsolute

Example

More examples

"There are various expressions that indicate something is hearsay."

Etymology

From Middle English hyere-zigginge (1340), here sey (ca. 1438), from the phrase heren seien (“to hear [people] say”). Compare equally old Middle High German hœrsagen (14th c.), whence modern Hörensagen.

Related phrases

double hearsayhearsay evidenceas they saycross examinationso they sayyou know what they say

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.