talebearer

noun

"talebearer" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“talebearer” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An indiscreet person who spreads gossip or blame.

Corpus desk

Index EN-talebearer · talebearer · English

talebearer · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for talebearer
PropertyValue
Headwordtalebearer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “talebearer” in English

talebearersits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

talebearer is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An indiscreet person who spreads gossip or blame.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for talebearer, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English taleberer; equivalent to tale + bearer. The correct English form is talebearer, spelled T-A-L-E-B-E-A-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An indiscreet person who spreads gossip or blame.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how talebearer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "To speak the truth when my lady commands me," answered the prudential major-domo, "is in some measure my duty, Mistress Lilias; always providing for and excepting those cases in which it cannot be spoken without breeding mischief and inconvenience to myself or my fellow-servants; for the tongue of a tale-bearer breaketh bones as well as Jeddart-staff."
  2. There is always some thoughtless talebearer ready to gather up the arrows of gossip and thrust them into the quivering heart of the victim.

Etymology

From Middle English taleberer; equivalent to tale + bearer.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "talebearer"?
"talebearer" is spelled T-A-L-E-B-E-A-R-E-R.
What does "talebearer" mean?
As a noun, "talebearer" means: An indiscreet person who spreads gossip or blame.
What is the origin of the word "talebearer"?
From Middle English taleberer; equivalent to tale + bearer. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list