variants
or less commonly tele
plural tellies also teles
British, informal
: television
… I asked parents what they thought of children's telly.—
Vanessa Feltz
Vanessa FeltzWhile you were doing your couch potato number in front of the telly last Sun., 67-yr-old Zadu Taft was swimming across the Golden Gate …—Berb Caen
Berb CaenIs there any truth to the hundreds of pieces of advice we hear from aunt Jane, who 'saw it on the tele'?—Patrick Holler
Patrick Holler
Examples of telly in a Sentence
Please turn off the telly.
I just want to relax and watch the telly.
Recent Examples on the Web
Her days unfold to the teakettle’s whistle in the morning and the telly’s lineup of old movies in the afternoon.
—Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 May 2024
Morgan treats the Windsors primarily as media figures—the people watch the Queen on the telly while the Queen watches them back.
—Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
The Princess of Wales popped up on the TV broadcast with a special message
Kate Middleton popped up in an unexpected place on Friday: the telly!
—Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
On the day of the match, reporters flocked to Centre Court, while untold thousands of British women turned on the telly with their afternoon tea in the hope that the nation’s tennis sweetheart might reclaim the national championship title at long last.
—Sally H. Jacobs, Town & Country, 15 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for telly 
Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 May 2024
Morgan treats the Windsors primarily as media figures—the people watch the Queen on the telly while the Queen watches them back.
—Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
The Princess of Wales popped up on the TV broadcast with a special message
Kate Middleton popped up in an unexpected place on Friday: the telly!
—Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
On the day of the match, reporters flocked to Centre Court, while untold thousands of British women turned on the telly with their afternoon tea in the hope that the nation’s tennis sweetheart might reclaim the national championship title at long last.
—Sally H. Jacobs, Town & Country, 15 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for telly
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'telly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near telly
Cite this Entry
“Telly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telly. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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