hearsay
Americannoun
-
unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another and not part of one's direct knowledge.
I pay no attention to hearsay.
- Synonyms:
- tittle-tattle, babble, scuttlebutt, talk
-
an item of idle or unverified information or gossip; rumor.
a malicious hearsay.
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of hearsay
First recorded in 1525–35; originally in phrase by hear say, calque of Middle French par ouïr dire
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His defence team countered that Duterte had murdered no one and that the prosecution's argument was based on "hearsay" and "conjecture", falling far short of the bar needed to confirm the charges against him.
From Barron's
He dismissed statements from prosecution witnesses as "assumption layered upon hearsay" and urged the judging panel to give them "negligible evidentiary weight".
From Barron's
The judge said hearsay evidence could be considered, but jurors should be "careful" as it had not been given under oath and should "not convict the defendant mainly in reliance on it."
From BBC
It will be fueled by correspondence, hearsay and accusations of the type that only law enforcement can compel and collect, and that are as a result usually kept private absent formal legal proceedings.
It appears that investors only have passingly paid attention to my letters, and many have been clinging to various rumors and hearsay in place of analysis or original thought.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
