Phrase guide

word of mouth

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The verbal means of passing on information; viva voce.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

Examples

  • The book didn't need to be advertised; it became popular solely by word of mouth.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

gossip spread by spoken communication

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the news of their affair was spread by word of mouth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: grapevine, pipeline

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gossip, comment, scuttlebutt

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: মুখের কথা (mukher kotha) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Catalan: boca-orella — verbal means of passing of information
  • Chinese Mandarin: 口口相傳 /口口相传 (kǒukǒu xiāngchuán) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Chinese Mandarin: 口傳 /口传 (kǒuchuán) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Danish: mund til mund — verbal means of passing of information
  • Dutch: mond-tot-mond — verbal means of passing of information
  • Dutch: mond-tot-mond communicatie — verbal means of passing of information
  • Esperanto: perbuŝo — verbal means of passing of information
  • Finnish: suupuhe — verbal means of passing of information
  • French: bouche à oreille — verbal means of passing of information
  • German: Mundpropaganda — verbal means of passing of information
  • German: Mund-zu-Mund-Propaganda — verbal means of passing of information
  • Greek: από στόμα σε στόμα (apó stóma se stóma) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Hungarian: élőszó — verbal means of passing of information
  • Icelandic: munnlega — verbal means of passing of information
  • Indonesian: getok tular — verbal means of passing of information
  • Indonesian: dari mulut ke mulut — verbal means of passing of information
  • Italian: passaparola — verbal means of passing of information
  • Japanese: 口コミ (kuchikomi) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Japanese: 口伝 (kuden) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Korean: 구전 (gujeon) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Latin: viva voce — verbal means of passing of information
  • Polish: poczta pantoflowa — verbal means of passing of information
  • Polish: wici — verbal means of passing of information
  • Portuguese: boca a boca — verbal means of passing of information
  • Portuguese: passa-palavra — verbal means of passing of information
  • Russian: сарафа́нное ра́дио (sarafánnoje rádio) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Spanish: boca a boca — verbal means of passing of information
  • Spanish: boca-oreja — verbal means of passing of information
  • Spanish: de boca en boca — verbal means of passing of information
  • Spanish: de dicho en dicho (disused) — verbal means of passing of information
  • Swedish: mun till mun — verbal means of passing of information
  • Turkish: dedikodu gazetesi — verbal means of passing of information