小道消息

xiǎodàoxiāoxī

noun #16,593

Meanings

1 hearsay; gossip
2 grapevine news; rumor (from unofficial channels)

Characters

to disappear; to vanish

breath; news; information

Examples

据小道消息，公司要裁员了。

Jù xiǎodào xiāoxī, gōngsī yào cáiyuán le.

According to the grapevine, the company is going to lay people off.

小道消息不一定可靠。

Xiǎodào xiāoxī bù yīdìng kěkào.

Gossip is not necessarily reliable.

Tips

memory

小道 (small path) + 消息 (news) — news that travels along the small back paths rather than the main road, i.e. unofficial gossip.

Stroke Order

小 xiǎo

道 dào

消 xiāo

息 xī