Tittle-tattle
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Petty, idle gossip. uncountable
"Every idle Tittle-tattle that went about, Jack was always ſuſpected for the author of it: […]"
- 2 light informal conversation for social occasions wordnet
- 3 An idle, trifling talker; a gossip. countable, uncountable
"If I can once extirpate the race of solid and substantial humdrums, I hope by my wholesome and repeated advices, quickly to reduce the insignificant tittle-tattles and matter-of-fact-men that abound in every quarter of this great city."
- 1 To engage in gossip.
"‘I hope you two have been mewed in with that old pussy long enough. While you’ve been tittle-tattling I’ve been doing, — listen to what this bobby’s got to say.’"
- 2 speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly wordnet
- 3 To spread gossip.
Example
More examples"Every idle Tittle-tattle that went about, Jack was always ſuſpected for the author of it: […]"
Etymology
Reduplication of tattle.
More for "tittle-tattle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.