tick off

verb

ticked off; ticking off; ticks off

transitive verb

1

: to make angry or indignant

the cancellation really ticked me off

2

: reprimand, rebuke

his father ticked him off for his impudence

Synonyms of tick off

• admonish
• reprimand
• get after
• blame
• scold
• get on
• criticize

Examples of tick off in a Sentence

she royally ticked the babysitter off for letting the child play outside unsupervised

it really ticks me off when someone says something like that

Recent Examples on the Web

In its October earnings conference call, Puma CEO Arthur Hoeld ticked off a list of things Puma needs to correct. —Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 8 Jan. 2026

Kusilek, who quarterbacked the Falcons from 2012-15, earning all-WIAC Conference honors, stood with a smile pasted to his face and his eyes glued to Wisconsin-River Falls coach Matt Walker as the final minute of time ticked off the clock. —Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2026

Check that out in the last gasp of your holiday break, and/or tick off a few more items from our mega holiday streaming movie guide. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 2 Jan. 2026

Whatever was said clearly ticked off Winston, while Adams seemed to be wondering what made the situation rise to this level of frustration. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 28 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

tick entry 2

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for tick off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff