chisme

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃisme/ [ˈt͡ʃiz̺.mɪ]
• Rhymes: -isme
• Hyphenation: chis‧me

Uncertain. Compare Spanish chisme.

chisme m (plural chismes)

1. gossip
2. a worthless object, thingy

   Synonym: cachivalho

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

chisme

1. inflection of chismar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “chisme”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “chisme”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

• Hyphenation: chis‧me

Uncertain, perhaps equivalent to etymology 2. Compare Spanish chisme.

chisme m (plural chismes) (Portugal, colloquial)

1. gossip (idle talk)

   Synonyms: bisbilhotice, mexerico, fuxico, (Brazil) fofoca

From Latin cīmicem.

chisme m (plural chismes) (Trás-os-Montes)

1. bedbug

   Synonym: percevejo

• “chisme”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “chisme”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “chisme”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “chisme”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “chisme”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃisme/ [ˈt͡ʃiz.me]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -isme
• Syllabification: chis‧me

Uncertain. A connection to cisma (“schism; discord”) has been proposed on the grounds that rumours can cause strife. Coromines considers it more likely to be a further evolution of etymology 2 below.

chisme m (plural chismes)

1. gossip

   Synonyms: (Chile) cahuín, (Chile) copucha, cotilleo, pelambre, (El Salvador) chambre

   revista de chismes ― gossip magazine

   ¡Eso no son más que chismes! ― That's just gossip!

   • 2019, Pedro Almodóvar, Dolor y gloria (motion picture), spoken by Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas):

     Alberto, los chismes envejecen, como una persona.

     Alberto, gossip ages, like people.

2. trinket, gadget
3. (colloquial) thingy (something whose name one cannot recall)

   Synonyms: coso, chirimbolo

• cacharro

• → Cebuano: tsismis
• → Tagalog: tsismis

From Old Spanish çisme f, from Latin cīmicem m. Initial consonant altered presumably by association with the synonymous doublet chinche.

chisme f (plural chismes) (obsolete)

1. bedbug
   • 1507, Antonio de Nebrija, Vocabularius:

     Cimex,icis por la chisme o chinche

     [The Latin word] cīmex, -icis means 'bedbug'

• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “chisme”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[1] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 376

• “chisme”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025