idiom · neutral
word of mouth
UK/wɜːd əv maʊθ/US/wɜrd əv maʊθ/word·of·MOUTH
speakingtask2
information passed from person to person by conversation rather than in writing or advertising
Examples
“Most of their customers came by word of mouth.”
“The new restaurant became popular largely by word of mouth.”
“Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool for small businesses.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although the company spent little on advertising, positive reviews spread by word of mouth and sales rose steadily.”
Collocations
- spread by word of mouth
- rely on word-of-mouth recommendations
Word family
by word of mouth phraseword-of-mouth adjective
Common mistakes
by words of mouth→by word of mouth
through my mouth→by word of mouth
Say it for a higher band
5by reputation→6by recommendation→7+word of mouth
Synonyms
by reputation
Easily confused
rumour
“The rumour about the merger spread quickly across the office.”
Related words
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In Communication
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