tattler

noun

ˈtat-lər How to pronounce tattler (audio)
Definition of tattlernext
as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing as the office's resident tattler, she can be counted on to report any unauthorized use of the photocopiers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tattler Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler. — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025 Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner, hired him to replace a British editor who had turned it from a brash, tough-guy paper into a tattler of celebrity gossip and supermarket tabloid stunts. — Robert D. McFadden, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2020 Being a tattler or someone who is too focused on the drama rarely works out, largely because those dudes are more focused on screen time than the lead. — Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 20 June 2019 Dwight and Eugene remain at an ideological impasse, but Eugene is too busy waffling between his morality and his desire to stay alive to actually pick a side—and for reasons unknown, Dwight hasn’t found a way to simply ax the potential tattler. — Laura Bradley, HWD, 3 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattler
  1. informant
  2. informer
  3. canary
  4. tattletale
  5. rat
  6. reporter
Noun
  • Ziccarelli said that Cochran claimed the charges were withdrawn because the defendant was working as a confidential informant.
    — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, an FBI informant who had helped recruit the squad of commandos, had learned of the constitutional obstacles after consulting with an Ecuadorian lawyer, José Antonio Corrales.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of informant
Noun
  • One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.
    — Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026
  • And so every regime invests in having student informers.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of informer
Noun
  • For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.
    — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Astronauts bring them on journeys to keep an eye on whether or not the water filtration systems are working, much the way miners used to take canaries down to the coal mines to check for poisonous gas leaks.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • That kid has tattletale energy.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2026
  • People who come forward are called narcs, tattletales and snitches.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Definition of tattletale
Noun
  • New research has also shown that reducing another signaling chemical, norepinephrine, in certain brain regions can decrease rats’ ability to learn from situations where expected rewards are less available.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The Republican billionaire accused of fueling an infestation of rats in Chicago.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of rat
Noun
  • The row reached the competition jury’s press conference the day after the opening ceremony, where a reporter raised the question of historical fact and creative freedom.
    — Ophélie Surcouf, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • One of my favorite quotes about Kansas City barbecue comes from a news reporter in Milwaukee.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of reporter

Browse Nearby Words

tattled
tattler
tattlers
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tattler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattler. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on tattler

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tattler

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All