流りゅう言げん飛ひ語ご

りゅ

う

げ

ん

ひ

ご

Meanings

1

noun

false rumor; groundless rumor; canard

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo for baseless rumors or unfounded gossip spreading widely. Often used in news or formal contexts to describe misinformation.

SNSで流りゅう言げん飛ひ語ごが拡かく散さんされ、混こん乱らんを招まねいた。
False rumors spread on social media, causing confusion.

政せい府ふは流りゅう言げん飛ひ語ごに惑まどわされないよう国こく民みんに呼よびかけた。

The government urged the public not to be misled by groundless rumors.

Written forms

流りゅう言げん飛ひ語ご
Standard kanji form for this yojijukugo.
流りゅう言げん蜚ひ語ご
Variant using 蜚 (rare kanji) instead of 飛; less common but still encountered.

Kanji

流current, a sink, flow
言say, word
飛fly, skip (pages), scatter
語word, speech, language
蜚beetle, cockroach

Similar words

デマ
デマ is a more casual, everyday term for false rumor or hoax, while 流言飛語 is a formal, literary yojijukugo often used in serious contexts.
風ふう評ひょう
風評 refers to reputation or hearsay, not necessarily false; 流言飛語 specifically emphasizes baseless, harmful rumors.

Etymology

A yojijukugo combining 流言 (spreading words) and 飛語 (flying words), literally 'flowing words, flying words,' conveying the idea of rumors spreading like wind or water. The variant 蜚語 uses a rare kanji for 'fly.'