Scuttlebutt (Noun)
Meaning
A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people; "the divorce caused much gossip".
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The scuttlebutt around town was that the Smiths were having marriage problems.
- Rumors swirled about the company's financial troubles, and the scuttlebutt was that layoffs were imminent.
- The celebrity gossip magazine thrived on scuttlebutt about famous people's private lives.
- Office politics often revolved around scuttlebutt about who was getting a promotion or who was about to be fired.
- The media picked up on the scuttlebutt surrounding the politician's secret affair and ran with it.