Dictionary

quidnunc en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈkwɪdˌnʌŋk/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)

Etymology

From Latin quid nunc? (“what now?”).

Meanings

1. (archaic) A person eager to learn news and scandal.
   • […] but still something was necessary to convince the community at large, to quiet those praying quidnuncs who should come after them--in short, the world must be satisfied. 1809, Washington Irving, chapter VIII, in Knickerbocker's History of New York, volume 5:
   • We all did our duty, which, in the patriot's, soldier's, and gentleman's language, is a very comprehensive word, of great honour, meaning, and import, and of which the generality of idle quidnuncs and coffee-house politicians can hardly form any but a very mean and contemptible idea. 1785, Rudolf Erich Raspe, chapter V, in The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen:
   • The College Sloven, or embroidered Spark, The purple Prelate, or the parish Clerk, The quiet Quidnunc, or demanding Prig, The plaintiff Tory, or defendant Whig; 1730, Edward Young, “Epistle I.”, in Two Epistles to Mr. Pope, Concerning the Authors of the Age:

Forms

Deriveds

quidnuncery · quidnunctious

Synonyms

yenta · newsmonger · buttinsky · gossip · busybody