tattled; tattling
ˈtat-liŋ 
ˈta-tᵊl-iŋ
1
chiefly US
: to tell secrets about what someone else has done : blab
: to utter or disclose in gossip or chatter
Synonyms
Examples of tattle in a Sentence
Verb
those neighborhood busybodies, constantly tattling and whispering over their backyard fences
Noun
she claims to have picked up some juicy tattle about the celebrity couple
Recent Examples on the Web
Leah Romero, ELLE, 20 Apr. 2023
Adults do not tattle.
—Roxane Gay, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2022
The post went on to imply that the Common Application — the third-party manager of applications for lots of colleges — could tattle to other schools if an applicant broke an early decision agreement.
—New York Times, 18 Dec. 2021
This is the only way to tattle to the lead: The accusation is specific and limited in scope, the offense just happened, and there are presumably witnesses to the bad behavior.
—Ali Barthwell, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2021
In essence, said Richard Scott Carnell, a former Treasury Department official, Molyneux was selling Euro Pacific as a firm that will not tattle to tax authorities.
—Matthew Goldstein, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2020
The email was, in effect, asking residents to tattle on each other for failing to socially distance.
—Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 21 Apr. 2020
Polling his colleagues, Fowler found that sites had tattled to Facebook about their visits to a sperm measurement service, medical insurers and a credit agency.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 3 Feb. 2020
Priests, seminarians and former seminarians described in interviews a climate of self-censure, with men often tattling on one another and gossiping rather than speaking openly.
—Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2019
Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 9 Aug. 2022
Today’s blowhard bloggers and their tattle texts?
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2021
But the real interest of this book lies not in its colorful tittle-tattle but in its richness as psychodrama.
—Brooke Allen, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022
Without a healthy dose of historical linguistics, Freeman said, English studies would fill up with distasteful tittle-tattle.
—Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022
There was a time when people, perhaps naively, considered newspapers a cut above chat-show tattle, more reliable, more likely to get at something beyond mere opinion.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 4 Feb. 2022
Let this be a lesson to all future tattle-tales: Use your words when explaining the drama dujour, if not for the lead's sake, for your own.
—Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 14 June 2021
Independent thinkers retreat to great books, which never tattle or subtweet or bully or, most importantly, bore you to death.
—Stefan Beck, Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2021
Lady Whistledown, the pseudonymous writer of Bridgerton’s tittle-tattle rag, is voiced by Julie Andrews, just as the CW’s mysterious blogger had Kristen Bell as its narrator.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 25 Dec. 2020
See More
Verb
There is no product settling into the creases of my smile line, tattling on my ‘no makeup; makeup’ look.
—Leah Romero, ELLE, 20 Apr. 2023
Adults do not tattle.
—Roxane Gay, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2022
The post went on to imply that the Common Application — the third-party manager of applications for lots of colleges — could tattle to other schools if an applicant broke an early decision agreement.
—New York Times, 18 Dec. 2021
This is the only way to tattle to the lead: The accusation is specific and limited in scope, the offense just happened, and there are presumably witnesses to the bad behavior.
—Ali Barthwell, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2021
In essence, said Richard Scott Carnell, a former Treasury Department official, Molyneux was selling Euro Pacific as a firm that will not tattle to tax authorities.
—Matthew Goldstein, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2020
The email was, in effect, asking residents to tattle on each other for failing to socially distance.
—Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 21 Apr. 2020
Polling his colleagues, Fowler found that sites had tattled to Facebook about their visits to a sperm measurement service, medical insurers and a credit agency.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 3 Feb. 2020
Priests, seminarians and former seminarians described in interviews a climate of self-censure, with men often tattling on one another and gossiping rather than speaking openly.
—Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2019
Noun
Mindy Kaling has a tiny tattle tale on her hands!
—Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 9 Aug. 2022
Today’s blowhard bloggers and their tattle texts?
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2021
But the real interest of this book lies not in its colorful tittle-tattle but in its richness as psychodrama.
—Brooke Allen, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022
Without a healthy dose of historical linguistics, Freeman said, English studies would fill up with distasteful tittle-tattle.
—Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022
There was a time when people, perhaps naively, considered newspapers a cut above chat-show tattle, more reliable, more likely to get at something beyond mere opinion.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 4 Feb. 2022
Let this be a lesson to all future tattle-tales: Use your words when explaining the drama dujour, if not for the lead's sake, for your own.
—Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 14 June 2021
Independent thinkers retreat to great books, which never tattle or subtweet or bully or, most importantly, bore you to death.
—Stefan Beck, Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2021
Lady Whistledown, the pseudonymous writer of Bridgerton’s tittle-tattle rag, is voiced by Julie Andrews, just as the CW’s mysterious blogger had Kristen Bell as its narrator.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 25 Dec. 2020
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tattle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle Dutch tatelen; akin to Middle English tateren to tattle
First Known Use
Verb
1547, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 2
Noun
circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing tattle
Dictionary Entries Near tattle
Cite this Entry
“Tattle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tattle. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
tattle
2 of 2 noun1
: idle talk : chatter
2
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