Link Centre Dictionary

hearsay

hear·say

UK/ˈhɪəseɪ/ US/ˈhɪɹˌseɪ/ uncommon
noun (1) adjective (1)

noun

1.

gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth

Synonyms

adjective

1.

heard through another rather than directly

  • “hearsay information”
Similar

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • as they say
  • double hearsay
  • hear tell
  • hearsay evidence
  • so they say
  • you know what they say

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.