quidnunc

Noun

quidnunc (plural quidnuncs)

1. (archaic) A person eager to learn news and scandal.
   • 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
   • 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

   Synonyms:

   busybody, buttinsky, gossip, newsmonger, yenta