tell of
phrasal verb
told of; telling of; tells of
formal + literary
1
: to be evidence of (something) : to indicate
Her smile told of her good news.
His rough hands tell of a hard life.
2
: to describe (something) : to make the details of (something) known
The article tells of her Arctic journey.
3
: to talk to (someone) about (something)
He told us of his plans to move to the city.
Examples of tell of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Although considering the snub only received a fraction of the outcry that his After Hours-era bagel did four years earlier, perhaps that’s telling of the relative esteem that the public holds Tomorrow in.
—
Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
Carroll’s Victorian era story told of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole (and, in the second novel, goes through a looking glass) to land in a fantastical and nonsensical world of talking and human-like animals.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 11 Nov. 2025
The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society’s 1835 report told of a Black family whose home had been broken into and looted the year before.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Curious choices are made, though, about what to tell of his transgressions during the war and the angelic representation of his wife and daughter in hiding.
—Lindsey Bahr, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
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Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 11 Nov. 2025
Carroll’s Victorian era story told of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole (and, in the second novel, goes through a looking glass) to land in a fantastical and nonsensical world of talking and human-like animals.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 11 Nov. 2025
The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society’s 1835 report told of a Black family whose home had been broken into and looted the year before.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Curious choices are made, though, about what to tell of his transgressions during the war and the angelic representation of his wife and daughter in hiding.
—Lindsey Bahr, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell of
Cite this Entry
“Tell of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20of. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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