as in gossip
information or opinion that is widely disseminated without any authority or confirmation of accuracy
rumor has it that she's planning to shut down the company
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to whisper
to make (as a piece of information) the subject of common talk without any authority or confirmation of accuracy
for years people have been rumoring the CEO's imminent retirement
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rumor
Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 30 July 2025
This report corroborates a previous rumor that the battery will have a lower capacity than most iPhones of recent years.
—David Phelan, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
And it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a toddler.
—USA Today, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for rumor
Noun
With trade rumors swirling around forward Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra offered a public endorsement of Wiggins and vocalized the team’s commitment to him earlier this month.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 30 July 2025
This report corroborates a previous rumor that the battery will have a lower capacity than most iPhones of recent years.
—David Phelan, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Verb
They are rumored to also trade other key players on their roster before the trade deadline.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2025
And it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a toddler.
—USA Today, 30 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for rumor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rumor
Noun
-
Besides the usual weather report and family gossip, Fanny’s father was consistently supportive of her writing, urging her not to rush through life too quickly, offering gentle advice in tough times without pretending to know it all, full of that Howe family wit and humor.—
Ezra Fox
July 14,
Literary Hub,
14 July 2025
-
More gossip was unleashed when Albert was photographed with his son Alexandre Grimaldi, daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Nicole Coste, Alexandre’s mother, in 2023.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
-
It will be whispered but never spoken aloud lest too many clients will be alienated.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
13 July 2025
-
Surfers began whispering about the good surf brought on by the area’s sometimes harsh weather in recent years.—
Liz Provencher,
Travel + Leisure,
12 July 2025
Noun
-
Among those reports, according to the FTC, Customs and Board Protection imposters ranked as the fourth most common with 3,466 reports in the first four months of 2025.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
24 July 2025
-
The comments from Van Orden, a swing district Republican, came after Trump this week accused Obama of treason following a report from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that attempted to undercut a years-old, bipartisan assessment that Russia wanted Trump to win the 2016 election.—
Lawrence Andrea,
jsonline.com,
24 July 2025
Verb
-
In a clip revealing Season Five’s release date, Gomez, Martin, and Short barely make it through the announcement without cracking each other up.—
Althea Legaspi,
Rolling Stone,
23 July 2025
-
Every microservice outage reveals the presence of unmanaged complexity, weak isolation mechanisms and non-existent feedback loops.—
Raju Dandigam,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Noun
-
Mozeliak has started to gauge the interest of a handful of contending teams, though the talks are described as preliminary.—
Katie Woo,
New York Times,
26 July 2025
-
Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul yield little progress Russia and Ukraine held brief peace talks, but the warring countries remain far apart with little progress made.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
25 July 2025
Verb
-
One thing that has been hinted from the beginning of the season was the friendship fallout between Adriana de Moura and Julia Lemigova.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
1 Aug. 2025
-
Last year, ahead of Season 23, the country star hinted that ABC's parent company, Disney, doesn't share information about American Idol's judges quickly.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
In 2022, the California Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that Michael's defamation claim was based on inadmissible hearsay.—
Alexia Fernández,
People.com,
27 June 2025
-
Speculation surrounding Johnson once got so strong that the Bullet Train star addressed the hearsay during an interview with Rolling Stone UK in March 2024.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
Video footage and photos of him being taken into custody were widely circulated on social media, given the nature of the arrest and the circumstances surrounding it.—
Sonam Sheth,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
-
Wednesday, 10pm A statement was circulated to reporters covering Barcelona from Ham Seul, chief executive of a company called D-Drive, which the club had partnered with to organise the tour.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rumor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rumor. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share