tattletale

noun

ˈta-tᵊl-ˌtāl How to pronounce tattletale (audio)
Definition of tattletalenext
as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing don't be such a tattletale and tell me about every little thing your sister does

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 tattletale 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 Years later, their youngest daughter, Hannah Burch – now 24 and a mother herself – shared a viral TikTok video reflecting on the unique ways she and her siblings were raised — from rules around being a tattletale to monthly family yardwork and chore expectations. — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025 Unfortunately, The Croat, being a complete and total tattletale, blabbed to The Dama that Negan had hesitated. — Charlie Mason, TVLine, 11 May 2025 Upsides And Downsides Are At Stake Generative AI can readily be shaped as a tattletale or snitch by an AI maker. — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025 The two of them, as though after a party, would have stood at the sink cleaning dishes and wondering which among the attendees was the traitor, the tattletale. — Hazlitt, 26 July 2023 We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages. — Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023 One errant tweet, one mistimed joke, one honest opinion overheard by an oversensitive busybody with the shrunken soul of a schoolyard tattletale, and a person’s job can be lost and his reputation destroyed. — James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
  1. informant
  2. informer
  3. canary
  4. rat
  5. tattler
  6. reporter
Noun
  • Information for the charges came from multiple sources, including citizen informants, who had observed Wolff hunting on their property, observations made by wardens while on patrol, and surveillance.
    — David Zeug, Outdoor Life, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Of course, the agency must protect confidential information, including the identities of informants, but the path of its decision-making should be made clear.
    — Charity Ryerson, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 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
  • Dollywood thus became our Disneyland — from the Tennessee Tornado to the Wild Eagle to the Mystery Mine with the dead canary collapsing before the big drop.
    — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Interspersed throughout the myriad activations of Monterey Car Week is the most important facet for the collector community, and that’s the array of auctions that serve as either an optimistic barometer reading or an ailing canary in the coal mine.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • There were swarms of flies and numerous rats at, near or on the bodies.
    — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
  • But human colonization several hundred years ago introduced predators such as cats and rats that wiped out most of the kakapo.
    — Adela Suliman, NBC news, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of rat
Noun
  • 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
Definition of tattler
Noun
  • The referendum campaign has fueled debate about Iceland’s place in the world, Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir told reporters after casting her ballot in ​the capital on Saturday.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Canales told reporters postgame that Evans’ absence was related to a neck injury.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of reporter

Browse Nearby Words

tattles
tattletale
tattletales
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Cite this Entry

“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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