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hearsay

[heer-sey]

noun

unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another and not part of one's direct knowledge: I pay no attention to hearsay.

an item of idle or unverified information or gossip; rumor: a malicious hearsay.

adjective

of, pertaining to, or characterized by hearsay: hearsay knowledge; a hearsay report.

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Hearsay is an LSAT word you need to know.

So is improbable. Does it mean:

to make more severe or intensify; to annoy or irritate

not probable; unlikely to be true or to happen

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Origin:
1525–35; orig. in phrase by hear say, translation of Middle French par ouïr dire

Synonyms
1. talk, scuttlebutt, babble, tittle-tattle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To hearsay

Example Sentences

The nation's military lawyers disagree, saying that even in wartime, there are plenty of ways to avoid flat-out hearsay.

The disproportional treatment of an arguably minor mistake on the basis of hearsay evidence.

Hearsay evidence, for instance, is admissible in court.

EXPAND

The nation's military lawyers disagree, saying that even in wartime, there are plenty of ways to avoid flat-out hearsay.

The disproportional treatment of an arguably minor mistake on the basis of hearsay evidence.

Hearsay evidence, for instance, is admissible in court.

Like many entrepreneurs, he had chosen his investors based on reputation and hearsay.

The problem was that her testimony had already been deemed inadmissible hearsay.

Dozens of people are convicted each year, though hearsay is often used as evidence and accusers invent verbal transgressions.

Please fill up the comments below with hearsay and conjecture and rumor.

Prosecutors had argued that the witness's testimony would be inadmissible under the hearsay rule.

It has to be said that those dark reputations were largely based on hearsay.

Her statements about what happened may be true or they may be false, but they are certainly not hearsay.

Ask people for comment before printing claims about them or attributing hearsay to them.

Touting hearsay from others does not qualify as fact.

And the theft of private property based on hearsay and trumped up charges.

But the issues of testimony by television and hearsay evidence have broader.

People who think they know from hearsay picture a bone-dry landscape.

The defense vigorously objected that the testimony was inadmissible hearsay and not backed up by records.

DeCombe's fear of the defendant prejudicial hearsay.

They usually begin by hailing the glamour and allure of the stylish first lady, and then bury her under an avalanche of hearsay.

John's wort than hearsay and health-food-store claims.

The rules will be stacked in the government's favor, so hearsay evidence that would not be allowed in civilian courts may be.

The accused cannot be condemned by hearsay and has the right to confront any and all witnesses that testify against him.

The salesperson chose to make a generalization based on hearsay and gut feeling.

He waved pieces of paper containing fantasy names and repeated hearsay and slander about real people.

Ammon having supernatural powers because of rules preventing hearsay testimony.

But a single hearsay report to an officer would not be enough to trigger an inquiry.

The hearsay in the market is that panic covering by nonfinancial intermediaries is occurring on a wide scale.

All of these accounts have been challenged by defense lawyers as hearsay and biased.

Until officialdom acts, it is best not to comment on hearsay.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

hearsay (ˈhɪəˌseɪ)

—n
	gossip; rumour

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

hearsay definition

Information heard by one person about another. Hearsay is generally inadmissible as evidence in a court of law because it is based on the reports of others rather than on the personal knowledge of a witness.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

hearsay

in Anglo-American law, testimony that consists of what the witness has heard others say. United States and English courts may refuse to admit testimony that depends for its value upon the truthfulness and accuracy of one who is neither under oath nor available for cross-examination. The rule is subject, however, to many exceptions. In continental European law, where there is no jury to be protected from misleading testimony, judges may consider any evidence that they consider pertinent to reaching a decision. See also circumstantial evidence.

Learn more about hearsay with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Related Words

hearsay rule gossip

hearsay evidence whispering

Matching Quote

"Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. Hence the mysterious power of both flattery and calumny."

-Eric Hoffer

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